W. W. Van 





Copyright 1^° 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



BLAZING THE WAY. 



Blazing the Way; 



Or, 



Pioneer Experiences in Idaho, 
Washington, and Oregon 



By 

W. W. VAN DUSEN, D. D, 

(For eleven yeirs presiding elder in the Nortkwest.) 




CINCINNATI : JENNINGS AND GRAHAM 
NEW YORK : EATON AND MAINS 



^i?. 1 1905 



Tg52 



COPYRIGHT, 1905, 
JENNINGS AND GRAHAM 



PREFACE. 

The purpose of this book is twofold: First, 
to show clearly, from the experience of the 
writer, that the demands for pioneer work in the 
Church have not yet ceased to exist ; second, to 
present a faithful and true picture of the phys- 
ical and moral conditions of the country de- 
scribed. 

Concerning each of these matters there is 
much confusion of mind among some people. 
Those who live in the older sections of our coun- 
try find it difficult to comprehend the situation 
where the people are so widely scattered as they 
are in the Rocky Mountain States and Territories. 
This book sets forth what the writer has seen, 
together with some facts which he can vouch for 
as if he had seen them. It is certainly much 
more to be trusted than the ordinary real estate 
circular, or the prospectus of the mine promoter. 
The writer has no motive in presenting a view 
other than is borne out by facts. 
5 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTBK PAGE 

I. Pioneer Conditions, - - - ii 

II. The Inland Empire, - . - jg 

III. **The Two Wallas," - - - 31 

IV. A Glimpse of Frontier Life, - 38 
V. West of the Cascades, - - - 49 

VI. The Habitat of the Salmon, - 57 

VII. Early Religious Workers, - - 72 
VIII. Among Settler's Cabins and Indian 

Tepees, ... - 84 

IX. A Midwinter Journey, - - - 105 

X. A Midsummer Tramp, - - - 116 

XI. Profanity and Liquor, - - - 124 

XII. Ignorance and Filth, - - - 137 

XIII. Indian Types, 144 

XIV. Jonah Hays, the Christian Indian, 153 
XV. The Elijah OF THE Cceur d'Alenes, 175 

XVI. Oasis and Desert, - - - - 184 

XVII. The Niagara of the West, - - 197 



BLAZING THE WAY= 



CHAPTER I. 
Pioneer Conditions. 

Pioneer work has not yet ended in the United 
States of America. Many thousands of people 
still live in log or sod houses, or in mere board 
shanties, and some of these are several miles from 
their nearest neighbors. In the year 1900 the 
population of the State of Idaho was less than 
two persons for each square mile, while in the 
State of New York each square mile contained 
one hundred and thirty-five persons, and in sev- 
eral other Eastern States the population was even 
more dense. The entire Rocky Mountain region 
is as yet sparsely settled, and one may travel 
many miles by train through parts of the great 
West and scarcely see its inhabitants. What 
must it be, then, when one goes away from the 
railroads among the mountains, or on the great 
plains where the only means of transportation 
are the stage-coach or the cayuse? Men and 
II 



12 Blazing the Way. 

women are yet living who have never seen a 
railway coach, or heard the screech of the loco- 
motive, and many of these live in the Western 
States and Territories. 

The people of this section are engaged in a 
great variety of occupations. Some are miners, 
others are :cattlemen or sheep-herders, while 
others are farmers, hunters, or teamsters. Of 
course the great majority of people who dwell in 
the arid or mountain region have come from the 
East, and have been accustomed to nearer neigh- 
bo: s and modern methods of living, and many 
still live within easy reach of cities and towns 
and railroads ; and yet it is true that many wander 
away from the lines of travel to seek their for- 
tune in remote parts of the land. 

A hundred years ago, when Lewis and Clark 
began their expedition across the continent, al- 
most the last white man they left on the very 
outskirts of the settlements was Daniel Boone, of 
Kentucky fame, who had been retreating from 
the abodes of men during all his long life of 
seventy years, so intense was his infatuation for 
the wilderness. The restless spirit of Boone 



Pioneer Conditions. 13 

seems to inhere in many persons who are unable 
to enjoy life with near neighbors, or can not en- 
dure the cities and towns and modern arts of 
civil life. In response to this spirit, thousands 
are still seeking congenial haunts far from their 
fellows among the lofty mountains, or on the 
great plains of the western half of our country. 

These people are gathered from all parts of 
our own, and from many other lands. Here are 
people of infinite variety, no matter by what prin- 
ciple of classification we judge them, even as 
they come from all kinds of homes and from all 
sorts of environment and opportunity. Some are 
persons of culture and refinement, and others are 
their pronounced opposite in these graces of 
civilization. Some are religious, and some are 
very irreligious. Let no one think, however, 
that all who live in rough and uncouth society 
are boors in manners or education. It is well 
known that the grade of intelligence in mining 
[camps is very high, and even the adventurers of 
the plains are not behind their fellows of the 
Eastern cities in general information. One would 
be surprised to learn of the number who are 



14 Blazing the Way. 

from the best colleges of the land, or have had 
the advantages of the universities of Europe, or 
have traveled in Eastern countries. They have 
come to the West to improve their fortune, to 
make money, to grow up with the country, and 
to make a name for themselves. Their being 
here is an evidence of their energy, and this is 
displayed by a certain restlessness of spirit and of 
dissatisfaction with present conditions. Some 
are in the professions, and others are seeking 
fortunes in speculation in mines, in handling 
sheep or cattle, or in managing irrigation 
schemes. Those who were failures in the old 
home country are trying to achieve success, and 
those who were successful elsewhere are attempt- 
ing to win a greater success in their new home. 
Along with these are some who would have been 
dead long ago had they not aroused themselves 
and determined to try for life by a complete 
change of conditions and climate in a strange 
land. Here, as elsewhere, the masses are striv- 
ing chiefly for worldly gain with but little thought 
of the demands of a higher nature or the calls 
of humanity. Others, however, are giving due 



Pioneer Conditions. 15 

heed to all the requirements of existence, and 
are devoting some attention, at least, to the wel- 
fare of society. We find among these last a due 
proportion of schoolteachers and ministers of 
the Gospel, who are laying the foundations for 
the future empire of religion and civilization. 
Schools and Churches and other institutions, the 
object of which is to save and uplift humanity, 
are becoming more numerous as the country 
makes advances in age and material things. The 
log schoolhouse, sometimes with a roof of sod or 
shakes, is a place of worship as well as of in- 
struction, and the itinerant preacher is as much 
an institution as is the schoolteacher, though his 
circuit may be so large that he can not make his 
rounds more frequently than once or twice a 
month. 

The circuit system is not a thing of the past 
in the Rocky Mountain region. It is recognized 
as being so well adapted to the work to be done, 
that it is now employed by all denominations, 
and a circuit preacher is not necessarily a Meth- 
odist, as was once the case, for all the Churches 
have learned to use the machinery which is best 



1 6 Blazing the Way. 

adapted to the ends in view and is best able to 
do the work required. In a sparsely settled 
country the circuit rider is indispensable to the 
best results in religious work. The same is also 
true concerning the presiding eldership. The 
Methodist Episcopal Church has this institution 
both in name and in fact, and all others have 
something -juite like it in practice, whether they 
will acknowledge the name or not. The superin- 
tendence exists under different names in differ- 
ent Churches. In one it is the ''Synodical mis- 
sionary;" in another it is the "bishop;" in yet 
another it is the "superintendent" or the "State 
evangelist." Under a great variety of names 
the superintendency is maintained, and by its aid 
the work is carried forward by all the Churches. 
No denomination in a new country can succeed 
without the circuit system and some form of 
superintendency. The name by which this is 
designated is of little consequence. 

The writer has been a presiding elder in the 
Rocky Mountain region for eleven years. Dur- 
ing this time he has traveled by all sorts of con- 
veyances in his regular work more than 135,000 



Pioneer Conditions. I7 

miles. While much of this journeying has been 
accomphshed by modern methods, the stage- 
coach and the horse and saddle have received 
their full share of patronage, and the writer is 
quite familiar with each ; at the same time he 
has not forgotten the art of walking, for long 
pedestrian trips have often been a part of his 
regular exercise. He has occasionally preached 
in the large city churches, but more frequently 
in the log schoolhouse, or in the open air, or in 
the humble home of the settler. He has shared 
the hospitality of all classes, having sometimes 
been in the home of the rich, but more frequently 
under the roof of a brother itinerant, or in the 
liome of the farmer or cabin of the miner. He 
has often slept for hours in the day-coach of the 
railroad, when night and day were much the 
same. He has many times made his pillow on 
the hard seat of the waiting-room, and on sev- 
eral occasions he has spent the night in the straw- 
stack or hay-mow, or in an Indian cabin, or, pos- 
sibly, in still more uncomfortable quarters. He 
has fared sumptuously on the best the land af- 
forded, and he has sometimes fasted when it was 

2 



1 8 Blazing the Way. 

not from choice. He believes he has done his 
share of preaching the Word, besides conducting 
the full quota of business and other meetings. 
He thanks God for success in the work, and re- 
joices that the kingdom has been built up. He 
writes this little book in order that others may 
know that jnoneer work is still being done, that 
home missions are a great success, from what- 
soever viewpoint looked upon, and to increase 
the interest of all classes in the work of new 
fields by addmg something to the accumulations 
of knowledge concerning the work of extending 
the kingdom of our Lord in this great land. 



CHAPTER II. 
The Inland Empire. 

"That is the best I tan do for you/' said 
Bishop Walden, as he placed his finger on the 
Hst of appointments, about ten minutes before 
the adjournment of the Columbia River Con- 
ference in 1892. He had called me to his table, 
and then indicated that for the ensuing year I 
was to be the presiding elder of the Spokane Dis- 
trict. He possibly observed that I turned a trifle 
pale, for this appointment was wholly unlooked 
for, and then he added by way of comfort : "That 
means business, and hard work: now do your 
best." 

The Spokane District at that time included a 
part of Eastern Washington and a part of North- 
ern Idaho, a tract about the size of half of the 
State of Pennsylvania. Four years later, by a 
readjustment of boundaries, the district was 
doubled in area. Before assuming charge of this 
19 



20 Blazing the Way. 

important and growing field I had learned, on 
consulting that wonderful book, the "Discipline 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church," in the chap- 
ter on the "Duties of a Presiding Elder," that 
one of my duties was to travel through the dis- 
trict. One of the advantages to be derived from 
this is the knowledge to be gained in geology, 
chemistry, and other sciences, not omitting nat- 
ural history and botany. 

The year 1900 found me, by another turn of 
the itinerant wheel, traveling in the same capacity 
with the entire Idaho Conference as my field. 
This Conference embraces all of Southern Idaho 
and a part of Eastern Oregon, a territory about 
the size of all of New York State and half of 
Pennsylvania. What shall I say of the country 
included between the Rocky Mountains and the 
Cascade Range, familiarly known as the "Inland 
Empire?" It is true that this empire of terri- 
tory is not all embraced within the bounds of 
the two districts just mentioned, but they cover 
a large part of it. In my journeys I have some- 
times gone beyond these limitations, and in this 
book I shall not be confined by very contracted 



The Inland Empire. 21 

lines, though the major portion of the narrative 
pertains to the "Inland Empire." 

This is a very difficult country clearly to de- 
scribe to a person from the East, because it 
presents so many features which are unknown 
to those who have never seen it. It is a land of 
constantly recurring surprises, and it takes years 
of experience fully to know it. In the first place, 
it is a very large and sparsely inhabited country. 
Its chief cities are Spokane, Walla Walla, and 
Boise, with dozens of other lesser towns which 
range in population from a thousand to five 
times that number. Much of the section under 
consideration is very fertile, and many parts are 
in a high state of cultivation, while other larger 
portions are apparently worthless, desert wastes. 
Lofty mountains and deep canyons divide and 
cut the land into separate natural divisions. The 
mountains run up in the highest peaks about 
nine thousand feet, and the valleys sink as low 
as seven hundred feet above sea level. Nearly 
all the rivers and small streams flow through 
deep canyons, in some instances from fifteen 
hundred to two thousand feet below the table 



22 Blazing the Way. 

lands, which are only a few miles distant. This 
is true of the Columbia and Snake, the great 
rivers of the Northwest, as well as of their thou- 
sands of tributaries. This difference in altitude 
will in itself alone account for a great diversity 
in climate and rainfall. Climatic conditions as 
different as those of Syracuse and Washington, 
D. C, are here frequently found in places not 
twenty miles apart. 

The mountains are generally covered with 
pine, fir, and spruce timber, and the streams are 
sometimes fringed with cottonwood and willow, 
and in other places their banks are absolutely 
bare. The great plains and plateaus, generally 
speaking, are barren as far as trees are concerned, 
and the plains of Eastern Oregon and Southern 
Idaho are covered with the familiar mark of the 
Rocky Mountain region, the ubiquitous sage- 
brush, a bushy growth of highly scented and 
bitter shrub, varying in height from a few inches 
to ten feet. As we journey over the vast stretches 
of land covered with this growth as far as the 
eye can reach, the query constantly arises, What 
is it all for ? 



The Inland Empire. 23 

Many parts of Eastern Washington and 
Northern Idaho, in their virgin state, abounded 
with the wild rose and sunflowers. These for- 
merly flowering meadows have been converted 
into the famous and more utilitarian wheat- 
fields, whose yield per acre has been the marvel 
of wheat-growers in all parts of the world. 
Northern and Central Idaho has lofty mountains, 
whose summits are, in some instances, nearly 
always covered with snow. Below the snow-line 
they are clothed with timber, or a light growth 
of mountain mahogany and sarvis-bush, with oc- 
casional groups of quaking asp, and beneath the 
surface they are rich in minerals. Indeed this 
is true also of both Eastern Oregon and North- 
ern Washington. 

Let us take a brief excursion from Spokane, 
in Eastern Washington, to Lake Chelan, to the 
west of the Columbia in the same State. We 
journey due west, and after the first twenty 
miles we get away from the pine forests which 
surround our point of departure, and we are on 
the rolling prairie. The soil is rich and dry and 
dusty. Is it not a remarkable fact that real es- 



^4 Blazing the Way. 

tate dealers and railroad companies, in all their 
representations of this country, have never yet 
discovered that there is dust here ? Yet it is very 
much in evidence. It covers our clothing ; it gets 
into our eyes ; we see it, we smell it, we taste it. 
Wherever air goes, dust goes. Lewis and Clark 
on their westward journey of discovery encoun- 
tered it the same as all others who have visited 
these regions. Their latest historian says: "As 
the party advanced to the westward, following 
the crooked course of the Missouri, they were 
very much afflicted with inflamed eyes, occa- 
sioned by the fine alkaline dust that blew so 
lightly that it sometimes floated for miles, like 
clouds of smoke. The dust even penetrated the 
works of one of their watches although it was 
protected by tight double cases. In these later 
days, even the double windows of the railway 
trains do not keep out this penetrating dust, 
which makes one's skin dry and rough." 

We hardly dare tell what we have experienced 
in our encounters with dust for fear it will ap- 
pear to have penetrated even our reputation for 
truthfulness. We will, however, venture to make 



The Inland Empire. 25 

a statement of a well-known fact that can be 
vouched for by others. Many is the time, when 
riding on a stage-coach behind four horses, we 
have been unable to see the leaders because of 
dust. On account of this fact many teamsters 
put bells on their horses to avoid collisions with 
other teams. 

We are now in this dry and dusty region, 
with our faces to the west. A hundred miles 
brings us to the Grand Coulee, a long depression 
in the earth not unlike a dry river-bed, a thousand 
feet in depth. It is perfectly dry, save for a few 
pools of stagnant water strongly impregnated 
with alkali. Descending to its bottom, we look 
about and note the great walls of basaltic rock 
rising on either side, and we are led to inquire 
whether the earth has cracked open and then 
partly filled the crevasse from fires beneath. 
Climbing out of this depression, we go on for 
twenty miles further, and, lo! another coulee, 
deeper still, lies before us. This is known as the 
Moses Coulee, and the two are a puzzle to the 
geologist. One is fifty, and the other one hun- 
dred miles in length. They resemble river-beds 



26 Blazing the Way. 

in appearance, and it is no wonder the question 
is often asked whether the mighty Columbia has 
not flowed through them at some remote period. 
Many think it has, and possibly this is the cor- 
rect theory in explanation of these wonders of 
nature. 

We press on for thirty miles farther, still 
facing the west. We begin to descend by a wind- 
ing road from the central table-lands or plains 
of the Columbia. How steep the way is! The 
road is eight miles long in making this descent. 
Down, down we go. Mighty convulsions of na- 
ture are in evidence at every turn. The earth 
has been broken up by most violent upheavals. 
Here earthquakes have frolicked. At some re- 
mote period these rocks have been melting hot, 
and this soil has been blown from volcanoes as 
the finest dust and ashes. Rocks are everywhere, 
tier above tier ; now in regular basaltic form, like 
the Giant's Causeway ; now broken in the utmost 
confusion, as if hurled by an army of battling 
gods. A mile or two before us we see the jut- 
ting rimrock standing like a mighty fortress. Be- 
tween it and us flows the tortuous Columbia, and 



The Inland Empire, 27 

beyond, and higher still, are the Cascades, the 
tips of which are white with snow, in beautiful 
contrast with the green forests at a lower level. 

We are still descending, and presently we 
round a mighty rock, and catch our first glimpse 
of the glistening Columbia in the canyon below. 
We drop down still farther, and the river is at 
cur feet. We look about us and presently dis- 
cover, here and there, peach-orchards and small 
garden patches on the sand-bars of the river, ir- 
rigated by streams which tumble from the rocks 
above, or by water raised from the Columbia by 
wheel or pump. Sand? Here is sand enougK 
to supply a transcontinental railroad for years, 
and then there would be enough and to spare. 
Sometimes it drifts like snow, much to the con- 
fusion of the farmer, whose lands are encroached 
upon by this headstrong trespasser, which re- 
gards no other law than that of the winds and 
gravitation. At times it delays trains by its 
drifts, if the railroad lies in its way. Farther 
down the river, where the Oregon Railway and 
Navigation Company has built its track parallel 
to the stream for a hundred miles or more, trains 



28 Blazing the Way. 

are sometimes delayed for hours by the sand 
which drifts across the track. It does seem as 
though sand is not equally distributed either on 
the earth's surface or among its people. 

We are at the water's edge now, and the boat 
is coming across for us. It is a cable ferry. You 
never saw one in the East? Well, there are sev- 
eral sights here which are novel to persons from 
the Atlantic seaboard, just as there are scenes in 
the East which would cause us of the West to 
stare and wonder. For instance, you do not have 
the Columbia in the East, nor any river like it. 
Bryant may be excused under the circumstance 
for having brought the Columbia into poetry in 
a very poetic manner, and from a New England 
viewpoint when he wrote, 

" The continuous woods, 
Where rolls the Oregon ;" 

for there is scarcely a tree in sight, nor would 
you see one, except high above the river, were 
you to go up or down the stream for a hundred 
miles. 

But that cable ferry, — what is it, and what is 
it like? Well, it must be seen and studied at 



The Inland Empire. 29 

close range in order to be understood and appre- 
ciated. In this respect it is much like many fea- 
tures of the country where it is the principal 
means for crossing the streams which can not 
be forded. A wire cable reaches across the river 
and is made fast at each end to a high tower. 
To this cable the boat is attached by two ropes, 
wifh grooved wheels at their ends, which run on 
the cable as a track, and in this manner the boat 
is held in place at an angle with the current of 
the river, which presses against the sides of the 
boat and becomes its propelling power. We take 
passage and cross after paying the fare of four 
*'bits," or, as the uninitiated would say, a half 
dollar, and then we climb the opposite bank, and 
keep climbing for a long distance ; but before we 
reach the high lands we arrive at one of the most 
beautiful lakes in America, and one which some 
day will doubtless become one of the most fa- 
mous, the lovely and wonderful Chelan. It is a 
ribbon of water seventy miles long, varying in 
width from a fraction of a mile to five miles. 
With the single exception of Lake Superior, it is 
said to be the deepest body of fresh water on 



30 Blazing the Way. 

the continent. It is set as an amethyst among 
mountains which rise abruptly on all sides, their 
reflection on the lucid surface of the lake being 
seen almost or quite as distinctly as the moun- 
tains themselves. At its western end it is fed by 
the eternal snows of the Cascades, which send 
down their hundreds of silvery rivulets of cool- 
ing water. 

Yesterday we were on the dry and dusty 
plains of the Big Bend country, the almost torrid 
plateau of the Columbia ; to-day we recognize the 
hand of the Creator in the grandest scenery na- 
ture afifords in this, the Switzerland of America. 
Such is the land we would describe, but in the 
description of which we fail, for language fails. 



CHAPTER III. 
The Two Wallas. 



tf 



Walla Walla is the Indian name for "little 
running waters." This is a beautiful place, in a 
garden valley of great fertility bearing the same 
name, where once hunted and dwelt a fierce In- 
dian tribe, fche terrible Cayuses. Forty years ago 
the government established a fort here, and the 
maps of a generation ago marked the spot as 
"Fort Walla Walla." One of the large military 
posts of the Northwest is still situated at this 
place. Settlers began to locate here for trading 
purposes about 1858, since which time this has 
been the leading town in this part of the country. 
A thriving town of fifteen thousand people, known 
as the "Garden City" of the Inland Empire, sits 
in her beautiful contentment amid other towns 
on every hand. The Walla Walla Valley, as the 
country on all sides is known, is a famous section 
for fruits and grains. Here are produced enor- 
31 



32 Blazing the Way. 

mous crops of wheat, where for many years it 
was thought the soil was too dry to grow any- 
thing but bunch-grass and weeds. This section 
and the Paiouse country, which lies a hundred 
miles to the north, constitute the great wheat belt 
of Eastern Washington over which people wan- 
dered for years, not dreaming it was good for 
anything but pasture. 

Walla Walla is famed not only for its fruit 
and grain, but is becoming well known as the 
seat of one of the rising educational institutions 
of the West. Here is located Whitman College, 
the living monument to the memory of Dr. Maf- 
cus Whitman, who, with the Rev. Henry Harmon 
Spaulding, and their young brides, made their 
wedding trip across the continent two years be- 
fore Fremont, the more illustrious ''Pathfinder," 
ever saw Pike's Peak. The wives of Whitman 
and Spaulding were the first white women to 
cross the Rockies. This little band of mission- 
aries entered this untried and unknown field un- 
der the auspices of the American Board of Com- 
missioners for Foreign Missions, for this was 
then looked upon as a foreign field; and indeed 



"The Two Wallas." 33 

its political ownership was by no means at that 
time clearly defined. These men and their co- 
laborers of the Willamette Valley did much 
toward settling these perplexing questions, and 
it now looks to us, as we examine the records and 
turn on the light of history, as though we, as 
citizens of the United States, owe to the cause 
of Christian missions the fact that much of the 
Pacific Northwest is now under the Stars and 
Stripes. Indeed we can not doubt it ; but this is 
but a small part of the wonderful outcome of 
missionary toil in this land. 

Dr. Whitman was a physician, a man of great 
nerve and ability, and a member of the Presby- 
terian Church. It was in 1836 that this com- 
pany began their work, just two years after that 
other band of missionaries under the heroic lead- 
ership of Jason Lee, of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, having made the journey by way of 
Cape Horn, began work west of the Cascades 
in the Willamette Valley. Eleven years later, in 
1847, Dr. Whitman and thirteen others, of which 
number his beloved wife was one, were brutally 
massacred by the Indians whom they were toil- 
3 



34 Blazing the Way. 

ing to civilize and save. The work of this com- 
pany appeared to human sight to have been ut- 
terly lost; Dut now, after more than sixty years, 
we are able to look back, and we clearly see that 
Marcus Whitman and his co-laborers did not toil 
in vain. 

Dr. Whitman established his headquarters at 
a point called Waiiletpu, six miles west of where 
Walla Walla now stands. At this place, and in 
all the surrounding country, he and his gifted 
wife toiled unceasingly, giving their lives to the 
work until they fell the victims of the deluded 
and cruel red men. After the slaughter, their 
bodies were laid side by side on the ground, and 
a large wagon-box was inverted and placed over 
them by their murderers, and earth was heaped 
upon it until a mound of considerable size was 
raised over the dead. This was their humble 
and insecure sepulcher. Months afterward, 
when the Indians had been driven back, the mili- 
tia from the settlements of the Willamette came 
and found this rude grave had been dug into by 
coyotes and the bodies mutilated. One of the 
members of this expedition has described this 



"The Two Wallas." 35 

scene to the writer, and he tells of gathering up 
the remains of the victims and reburying them. 
He saved a quantity of Mrs. Whitman's hair, a 
part of which he sent to her friends in New York. 
As I saw this rude grave, on visiting the scene of 
the slaughter in 1890, it was a moiind of earth, 
possibly twenty feet long by eight broad, and 
four or five feet high, and was all grown over 
with sagebrush and grass, and inclosed by a board 
fence painted white. Since then a granite shaft 
has been erected on the spot ; but Whitman Col- 
lege in Walla Walla is the best and most fitting 
memorial monument to the daring and devoted 
missionaries. Dr. Marcus Whitman and his wife, 
Narcissa Prentice Whitman. 

Whitman's associate in early missionary la- 
bor, and his traveling companion across the con- 
tinent, the Rev. Henry Harmon Spaulding, be- 
gan his work about one hundred miles to the 
east of Waiiletpu, at Lapwai, on the Clearwater 
River, in what is now the State of Idaho. In 
1839 his mission received a present of a printing- 
press from a Church in the Sandwich Islands, 
and it was set up and operated at Lapwai, where, 



36 Blazing the Way. 

so far as is known, was printed the first book in 
the Northwest. The language used was the Nez 
Perces, and the book was for the use of the mis- 
sionaries in instructing the natives. The work in 
this mission was quite successful, and the natives 
responded readily to instruction. At the time of 
the Whitman massacre, Mr. Spaulding was visit- 
ing in that part of the country ; but fortunately he 
was that day at Umatilla, about forty miles dis- 
tant from the bloody scene, and so escaped the 
fate which overtook his associates. On learning 
of the slaughter he started at once for home, 
where he had left his family, which place he 
reached after traveling on foot for seven nights ; 
for he had lost his horse on the way, and he did 
not dare risk his life by exposing himself by day 
for fear of Indians. He found his mission in a state 
of confusion, the savages having plundered it 
and driven his wife to take refuge with a friendly 
chief. For a time his mission appears to have 
been broken up; but he afterwards resumed 
work, the results of which are still found in all 
that region. He remained among his people un- 
til death, and was lovingly laid to rest in the mis- 



"The Two Wallas." 37 

sion burial-ground at Lapwai. A few years ago 
I drew rein at this historic cemetery, and found 
the following epitaph on one of its modest shafts : 

"Rev. Henry Harmon Spaulding. 

Born at Bath, N. Y., Nov. 26th, 1803. 

Commenced the Nez Perces Mission In 1836. 

Died Among His People, at Lapwai, I. T., 

August 3D, 1874. 

Aged 

70 years, 8 months, and 7 days. 

What volumes of isolation and sacrifice are 
indicated on this silent marble ! Yet no life spent 
in faithfulness is ever lost. These quiet and un- 
ostentatious toilers among their savage brothers 
were forerunners for others who have come after 
them and entered upon the fruits of their labors. 



CHAPTER IV. 
A Glimpse of Frontier Life. 

While living in Walla Walla as a pastor, I, 
on one occasion, received a letter inviting me to 
officiate at a wedding down the Columbia. The 
particular place of the wedding was not made 
known in the letter, but I was advised to go by a 
certain train to Umatilla, and stop at the hotel 
and await further orders. This place by rail was 
ninety-one miles from home ; but, being the near- 
est available minister at that time, I followed in- 
structions, and reached Umatilla at midnight, and 
retired to the best hotel. This public hostelry 
was not the Waldorf-Astoria; neither was it 
lighted by electricity nor heated by steam ; for an 
elevator it had no need. It was located on the 
south bank of the Columbia, where an extensive 
tract of sand reaches far to the westward. It 
was not the fault of the house or of its proprie- 
tor that a wind-storm arose before morning and 
38 



A Glimpse of Frontier Life. 39 

drifted dust and sand an inch deep across my 
window-sill, and left several handfuls of the same 
material on the none too white counterpane. 

At the breakfast-table I was singled out by 
the discriminating would-be-bridegroom as the 
man he had written to. He presently informed 
me of his plans, which were to row across the 
river to a place called Crimea, which is a large 
place in the sense that all out of doors is large — 
for it has only one house, which, however, is dig- 
nified as affording shelter for the post-office — 
and then we would go up the river on the Wash- 
ington side to the first house, which was distant 
only six miles, and there the marriage would 
take place at high noon. At Crimea, with its 
dock of one plank, we were met by our friend's 
prospective father-in-law, who had come to meet 
us with four horses attached to the fashionable 
carriage of that section, a heavy lumber wagon, 
with an enormously high seat in front. I was 
honored with a seat by the side of the driver, 
while the man who was so soon to renounce his 
condition of single blessedness stood up behind 
us. 



40 Blazing the Way. 

That was an interesting ride that August 
morning. To the right was the broad Columbia, 
and on our left the country rose in bluffs and 
stretched away for miles with its treeless waste 
of sand and sage. Not a tree was to be seen, 
save here and there a Cottonwood and a few wil- 
lows which fringed the river bank. Of course 
the road was dusty, for this was the dry season, 
and probably not a drop of rain had fallen for 
more than two months, and this soil of volcanic 
ash requires but a few days of dry weather be- 
fore it can almost be held in suspense by the at- 
mosphere. With only one house for six miles, 
it would hardly pay to keep the streets sprinkled. 
Hundreds of horses, but few of which have ever 
been touched by rope or halter, save when the 
branding iron was placed on them, were drink- 
ing at the river or browsing on its edge. These 
horses, and thousands like them, had never been 
fed a pound of hay or grain, and had never re- 
ceived any attention from the hand of man ex- 
cept when the cruel marking instrument had been 
heartlessly applied. They were wild horses until 
caught, and either tamed or canned (canned beef 



A Glimpse of Frontier Life. 4^ 

— canned horse?) as the case might be. These 
animals are accustomed to feed back from the 
river for several miles until compelled by thirst 
to return, when the leader of the band makes his 
"round up/' and all its members rush with frantic 
speed and confusion to the river to drink, which 
process is repeated at frequent intervals during 
the summer months. In the winter and wet sea- 
sons they will go farther back, as then the water- 
ways will be filled ; and thus the ''Horse Heaven" 
country will be once more populated. 

We observed, projecting from the bluffs and 
river banks, many beds of mussel-shells, all above 
the high-water mark. These were covered with 
earth until che covering was worn or blown away. 
Some of these beds were two or more feet in 
thickness, and appeared to be very ancient, as the 
shells were easily reduced to powder between the 
thumb and finger. Our driver and host informed 
us that Indian implements, bones, arrow-points, 
and other articles of native invention and utility, 
were ordinarily found among these beds of shells. 
The theory concerning them is that long ago, 
centuries before the memory of persons now liv- 



42 Blazing the Way. 

ing, tribes of mussel-eating Indians inhabited, or 
at least visited, these parts, and the deposits are 
the refuse from their feasts. In this connection 
it is interestmg to note that the natives living 
here at the time of Lewis and Clark's visit sub- 
sisted chiefly upon the products of the river. 

Other interesting objects of this ride were the 
sand-lizards, which would dart for cover with 
almost lightning swiftness upon our approach. 
We also frightened up a large flock of sage-hens, 
each of which appeared to be about the size of a 
half-grov/n turkey and of nearly the same color. 
This bird is easily approached, and may be killed 
in great numbers, and at certain seasons, when it 
has not been feeding on the bitter sage-brush, is 
excellent food. 

The wedding? Why, it was much like af- 
fairs of that kind in other parts of the country, 
except, as I now recall it, the guests and the 
clergyman came from a much greater distance 
than is generally the case, and the watermelon 
which was cut at the close of a splendid dinner, 
would have taken first prize at a world's fair, or, 
at any rate, would have received honorable men- 



A Glimpse of Frontier Life. 43 

tion, as it certainly did on this occasion. It had 
been grown on an island in the Columbia, and 
under the forcing inducement of rich soil, abun- 
dant heat and sunshine, with all the water it could 
drink, it was one of unusual size and flavor. Late 
in the afternoon I was put across the river in a 
small boat, a train was flagged, and that night 
found me at home, after an absence of twenty- 
four hours. If time is precious, a wedding fee 
on such an occasion should be large. 

The time consumed in coming and going in 
a country like this is an item of great conse- 
quence to a pastor as well as to others. The de- 
mands made upon a pastor are often such that 
the time consumed in meeting them deprives him 
of the ability to do the work in the pulpit and 
elsewhere which he otherwise would. Sometimes 
many hours are required in doing what in the city 
or town would consume only as many minutes. 
For an instance of this, take a pastoral call made 
by our pastor at Grangeville, Idaho, a few years 
ago. He received word that a sick man desired 
to receive a visit from him. Do we see him don 
hat and coat, and, stepping out, hail a passing 



44 Blazing the Way. 

car? Does he make the visit and return in fif- 
teen minutes, his wife and family not knowing 
of his absence ? It is not exactly after this fash- 
ion. The sick man is in a small log house on 
Craig Mountain, two thousand feet higher than 
Grangeville, and forty miles to the west. A 
journey is demanded. The pastor put on over- 
coat, heavy shoes, and leggings, kissed wife and 
babe good-night and good-bye, saddled his horse 
and rode forty miles to make that single call. He 
remained over night, administered the sacrament 
of baptism and the holy communion, prayed and 
sang with the family, and the following day re- 
turned home, having spent thirty hours and trav- 
eled eighty miles on horseback in making one 
pastoral call. 

Another pastor, at present having a circuit of 
seven preaching places, each of which he reaches 
every two weeks, affords us an instance which 
illustrates how some men are compelled to spend 
their time. The travel involved in making the 
rounds of this circuit but once is two hundred 
and seventy-five miles, and this is accomplished 
by means of two horses and a light wagon. This 



A Glimpse of Frontier Life. 45 

pastor does not spend as much time with his 
family as his presiding elder does with his, al- 
though the latter travels more than twenty thou- 
sand miles a year in his regular work. He is 
on the road in actual journeying the larger por- 
tion of each week. His work is among new set- 
tlements where the accommodations are not the 
most convenient, though the hospitality of the 
people is boundless. How he manages to preach 
with so small an opportunity for preparation is 
a mystery. Of course the open air is his study, 
and all nature is his text-book, and his experi- 
ence furnishes him with no small amount of 
material. 

Take a recent experience from this man's 
work. He left home one November day, not long 
after noon, to drive to his next appointment 
some twenty miles distant, to have service that 
night in a log schoolhouse. It was raining hard 
when he started, and he thought probably his go- 
ing would be of little use because of the in- 
clement weather; but he determined not to turn 
aside on this account, for this would not be a 
good example for his people. Before he reafihed 



4^ Blazing the Way. 

the farmhouse where he purposed taking supper, 
it was very dark, and when, an hour later, he 
started for the place of meeting he could see 
nothing except the dim outline of the mountains 
in the distance, which formed the sky-line for 
his vision; but he finally found his way by fol- 
lowing a couple of boys on horseback, whose out- 
line he could discern against the clouds. On ar- 
riving he found the house well filled with peo- 
ple, some of whom had come a long distance, for 
religious services were rare in those parts and 
were duly appreciated. 

After service he again went out into the rain 
and darkness to go to a place for entertainment, 
where, he had been assured, he would receive a 
hearty welcome. Not being familiar with the 
road he made slow progress, but finally came to 
the conclusion he must be near the place he was 
seeking, when his horses came to a full stop. On 
getting out ro feel for the cause — he could not see 
on account of the* intense darkness — he found 
his horses were standing with their breasts 
against a wire fence. He groped about and 
found that he was not far from a house, for he 



A Glimpse of Frontier Life. 47 

could discern its dim outline against the clouds. 
He then backed his horses away from the fence, 
and after a while succeeded in finding his way 
to the house, which was so dark and quiet that he 
began to fear its inmates had gone from home. 
He knocked at the door, and obtained no re- 
sponse. He next tried the door, which yielded 
to his pressure, and as he listened he could hear 
nothing but the dropping of water from the low 
mud roof. He searched in vain for a lantern, 
and finally turned to where he had left his horses 
to find them gone; but on going to the barn, 
which was not far off, he found them there wait- 
ing for him in their search for shelter. Finally, 
after stabling and feeding the animals, he re- 
turned to the house to seek shelter and rest for 
himself, since he could not think of going 
farther on such a night as this in a country he 
was so unfamiliar with, this being only his sec- 
ond visit to this people. He presently found a 
pine stick and whittled some shavings on the 
top of the stove ; but when he was ready to light 
them he made the discovery that he was without 
matches, and accordingly he instituted a blind 



48 Blazing the Way. 

search for these necessary articles. Finding a 
cupboard he began to feel for matches on the 
lowest shelf, and then on the next, and so he 
kept on until finally, on the topmost shelf, at the 
farthest corner in a teacup, he was fortunate in 
finding the objects of his search. Soon he had a 
miniature bonfire on the top of the stove, and by 
its light he proceeded with his investigations in 
quest of a place for a night's lodging. In the 
center of the room he found a bed which had 
been pulled into its present position in order to 
avoid the drippings from the leaks in the roof, 
and one-half of this straw bed he found to be 
nearly dry. By the aid of a partially dry quilt 
and a wagon sheet, in which he wrapped him- 
self, this pioneer preacher of the twentieth cen- 
tury slept soundly until morning, when he went 
on his way, breakfastless but rejoicing, to meet 
his next appointment. 



CHAPTER V. 

West of the Cascades. 

In order to understand clearly this wonder- 
ful country, with its people and industries and 
physical features, which are so very different 
from those of the middle West or of the Atlantic 
sections, let us take an excursion of several days' 
duration to Puget Sound, and thence to Port- 
land, and then down the Columbia to Astoria 
and the Pacific. We will go by rail, and in a 
few hours, after leaving the Columbia and Cen- 
tral Washington behind us, we begin the inter- 
esting climb of the Cascades. 

How the face of nature is changing ! We are 
hastened on and up through great canyons, 
among the mountains, between massive rocks and 
through tunnels, and into the far-reaching for- 
ests of fir and spruce which furnish masts for 
the shipping of the nations. Great trees, hun- 
dreds of feet in height, stand all about us, and 
4 49 



50 Blazing the Way. 

pierce the clouds like needles, and, as far as the 
eye can reach, rise mountain after mountain of 
forest. At Seattle and many other places are 
great mills where gang-saws are in operation, 
sawing immense logs into all kinds of lumber, 
which is shipped to foreign lands as well as to 
the Mississippi Valley and regions beyond. As 
we stand by the side of some of the logs of larger 
size we are unable to look horizontally across 
them without reaching up on tiptoe, or elevating 
ourselves in some other manner. 

What an interesting and strange world this is 
on the west side of the Cascades ! Here the aver- 
age rainfall varies from fifty to over one hundred 
inches in each year, while in the intermountain 
regions, which we have just left, it is in many 
places less than fifteen, and even where it is 
greatest it rarely exceeds twenty-five. This sin- 
gle fact will account for much of what we see. 
Then the Japan current from the Pacific makes 
itself felt to a remarkable degree in all this re- 
gion, but more forcefully nearer the coast. Thus 
the atmosphere is always tempered, so that win- 
ter is uniformly mild and summer is temperate. 



West of the Cascades. 5^ 

We are surprised to encounter so marked a dif- 
ference in vegetation. East of the mountains 
brown is the prevaiHng color in summer, except 
in the irrigated districts; while here green pre- 
dominates and pleases the eye. We also see some 
of the hard woods we are familiar with on the 
Atlantic coast, but which are wanting throughout 
the entire Rocky Mountain region. Daisies, 
ferns, and other specimens of plant life familiar 
to us in the far East, but which are unknown be- 
tween the inountains, thrive and are abundant 
here because of the excessive moisture. This 
land-locked body of water, which is large enough 
and secure enough to float and shelter the navies 
of the entire earth, is Puget Sound, on whose 
shores are many thriving cities and towns. Whit- 
tier well represented the situation when he wrote : 

" Behind the scared squaw's birch canoe 
The steamer smokes and raves, 
And city lots are staked for sale 
Above old Indian graves." 

Up and down the shores of this beautiful in- 
land sea we find not merely flourishing cities and 
towns and terminal stations and docks of some of 



52 Blazing the Way. 

the greatest transportation lines of the world, but 
the Church of God has also been well established 
here, and is keeping step with the march of 
progress. Within the memory of men now living, 
there was not a single minister of the Gospel in 
this section where now^ is the Puget Sound Con- 
ference with more than one hundred and thirty- 
five ministers, and upwards of twelve thousand 
Church members. This is truly wonderful when 
we remember that the Conference was organized 
as recently as 1884. Men with the spirit of As- 
bury and the fathers have toiled not in vain in 
the building up of this great and abiding work. 

Olympia, the capital of the State of Wash- 
ington, sits pioudly at the head of the Sound. 
It is famed more for its oysters than as the head 
of the State government, though these are so 
diminutive that a dozen or more are required 
to equal one from Baltimore or Norfolk. The 
flavor is something to boast of ; but we forbear, 
for some people call it abominable, yet after a 
time, with due perseverance, these oysters come 
to be relished, and by many are preferred to the 
very best from the Atlantic waters. 



West of the Cascades. 53 

Proceeding on our journey southward we 
come to the ci ossing of the Columbia at Kalama, 
where an entire train is taken on board the boat 
and ferried s cross the river, steam power instead 
of the force of the current being used in this in- 
stance. Soon we are in Portland, Oregon's 
metropoHs, and one of its oldest cities. It is 
beautifully situated on both sides of the Willa- 
mette, but a few miles from its confluence with 
the Columbia. The west side of the city extends 
up the bluffs known as Portland Heights, which 
overlook the surrounding country for many miles. 
Let us climb to this point of vantage, and from 
our exalted pedestal obtain one of the grandest 
views the entire earth affords. At least such is 
the opinion of numbers of persons who have 
traveled widely, and are in position to speak on 
this subject. After leaving the cable line — for 
the heights are too abrupt for the trolley — we 
climb a hundred or more wooden steps, keeping 
our faces toward the west, for we will not look 
behind, as we wish to have the beauty of the 
landscape burst suddenly upon our vision with 
all its splendor the moment our feet touch the 



54 Blazing the Way. 

summit. Arriving at this goal, we very slowly 
turn toward the south, then to the east and north. 
What a sweep of vision! He who has enough 
of soul and \ision to take in the beautiful and 
grand will hardly give utterance to an exclama- 
tion at first. After a little, he will give expres- 
sions of his admiration in subdued tones, while 
his thoughts turn toward the Maker of this mar- 
velous scene. At his feet is the city, lying on 
both sides of the silvery Willamette, with its sev- 
eral bridges, and with its shipping from all na- 
tions. A few miles to the north is the Columbia 
and Wappatoo Island, just beyond which, and 
in full view, is Vancouver, in the State of Wash- 
ington. 

Lift your eyes above the city and the wooded 
fields beyond, and look to the east. Already you 
have made the discovery, and have wondered at 
so beautiful and white a cloud ; but it is not a 
cloud, though like one in appearance, as it stands 
against the clear blue sky sixty miles away. It 
is Mount Hood, its snow-covered sides and sum- 
mit glistening in the golden sunshine, the emblem 



West of the Cascades. 55 

of eternal ruggedness and strength. In a few 
spots its rocky ribs are so steep that snow refuses 
to cover them, and these tell us of the mighty 
upheavals of ages past, when this Pillar of Her- 
cules was lifted up. But what is that symmet- 
rical pyramid of purity and glory which pierces 
the blue ether far to the north? It is not so 
rugged as Hood, nor quite so large, but if the 
curved line be the line of beauty, this mountain 
is unsurpassed in this quality. No wonder it is 
listed with the saints, and that we are inclined 
to speak its name with bated breath as we look 
upon Saint Helen's in her snowy glory, glisten- 
ing in sunshine, the symbol of purity and beauty. 
Three other, and more distant, snow-capped 
peaks greet our vision. These silvery pinnacles 
in their landscape setting, with the combination 
of water, land, city, and forest, all aglow in the 
summer glimmer, compel our admiration and 
thrill us with delight. 

If anywhere on this wonderful and beautiful 
earth God has placed a more splendid vision we 
do not know where to find it. Possibly it is 



5^ Blazing the Way. 

among the Alps. It may be among the Hima- 
layas. It is possible this view is surpassed some- 
where in our own great land, — we do not know ; 
but we are satisfied to think of the view from 
Portland Heights as at least approaching per- 
fection ; for it reminds us of what we are led to 
expect in the heavenlies of the beyond. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Habitat of the Salmon. 

It was the good ship Columbia, of Boston, 
with Captain Gray, which first crossed the bar at 
the mouth of the great river now bearing the 
name of the vessel. This was in 1792. More 
than a century later another vessel, bearing the 
same name, but propelled by steam power, makes 
regular trips from Portland down the river to the 
ocean and far to the south. She always stops at 
Astoria, the city of salmon, just inside the bar 
of the great liver of the West. We call Astoria 
the :city of salmon because of its great fishing in- 
dustry. Once it was noted as the headquarters 
of the American Fur Company, having been es- 
tablished as such in 181 1 by the agents of John 
Jacob Astor, of New York, after whom the place 
was named. 

At the present time we may see from the deck 
of our vessel what takes place about four o'clock 
57 



58 Blazing the Way. 

of each summer day. Here are hundreds of 
small boats putting out, up and down and across 
the river, which at this place widens out into 
several miles of comparatively quiet water, seem- 
ing to hesitate before mingling with the brine of 
the Pacific. The fishermen spread their nets 
wherever they think the salmon are running, al- 
most covering the river for many miles, and 
they toil all night, but usually not in vain. In the 
early morning they return, bringing their heavy 
loads to the canneries, where the fish are re- 
:ceived and cared for, and whence they are 
shipped to all parts of the world. It will be of 
interest to visit one of these great canning houses, 
of which there are twenty-five or more in this 
growing city. 

On the afternoon of July 24, 1901, a small 
party from the steamship Columbia spent a little 
time in one of these establishments. Having ob- 
tained permission at the office, we are now privi- 
leged to follow the salmon from the water to the 
warehouse. On the river side of the large 
wooden building is a low dock, planked up into 
a mammoth bin, and it is well filled with fish as 



The Habitat of the Salmon. 59 

they were brought in from the morning catch. 
Here are tons and tons of fish, varying in weight 
from twenty to forty pounds each, with the larger 
size predominating. Occasionally there is a fish 
of extra large size, which will tip the beam at 
seventy or even at eighty pounds. We take a 
hasty glance about us, for we are in danger of 
being bewildered in the slimy confusion. Here 
are from one hundred to two hundred men, the 
majority of whom are Chinamen, working as if 
life depended on finishing their task to-day. 
What can be the reason for this extraordinary 
haste? This is not hard to discover, for these 
men are not working by the hour or day, but the 
work and wages are so arranged that each is paid 
for what he does rather than for the time he con- 
sumes. But this is not the only reason for this 
great rush of men and fish and machinery. The 
catch for the past few days has been the largest 
known for many years, and eight hundred tons, 
or 1,600,000 pounds of salmon have been brought 
to the canning houses of Astoria during the past 
forty-eight hours, and every vat and cold storage 
is full to running over. Fish and the odor of fish 



6o Blazing the Way. 

are everywhere. The salmon exported by As- 
toria during the present year will bring more 
than $2,000,000. 

Watch the work about you; sec those great 
fish lifted from the bin. The first act is to cut 
ofi; the head, and the next removes the entrails. 
The heads drop into a box by themselves, and 
afterwards are joined by the fins and tails, and 
then are largely converted into oil. Yonder large 
warehouse has hundreds of barrels of fish-oil 
awaiting shipment to those parts of the world 
where it is needed for lubricating purposes. The 
body of the fish is now passed on to the next man 
cr set of men. Each has his own particular or 
individual work to perform. The man who does 
the decapitating does nothing else, and he cer- 
tainly is responsible for cutting off more heads 
than ever fell from the ax of a headsman. Now 
the fish has lost his head, fins, and tail. His 
scales slide off quicker than a lady slips off her 
gloves. Next, after being thoroughly washed, 
it is cut into a dozen or more pieces by a single 
pull of a lever. Another set of hands press these 
fish-steaks into tin cans of uniform size until 



The Habitat oE the Salmon. 6 1 

they are as full as an egg with meat. These are 
rapidly passed on to the next men where the cov- 
ers are clapped on, after which a machine does 
the necessary soldering. They are then placed 
in wooden fiames, several dozen together, and 
all are dipped into boiling water and thoroughly 
cooked. By a single lift of the pulley they are 
passed to where each can is carefully tested to 
make sure it is perfect. A drop of molten solder 
is placed over the little vent-hole of each, and 
then, by another plunge, all are washed, machin- 
eiy doing the work, and finally they are labeled, 
boxed, and stored for shipment. Is it a cleanly 
process, do you ask ? Yes, as much so as is pos- 
sible in handling fish in such great quantities, and 
^et we venture you will not be hungry for salmon 
for several hours after spending an hour in the 
cannery. 

Are salmon always caught by nets from 
boats ? No, mdeed ; there are many ways of cap- 
turing this fish. One of the original methods 
practiced by the natives was by the use of the 
spear, though he was not limited to this means, 
and at times resorted to several other devices. 



62 Blazing the Way. 

In order to get a correct idea of the various 
modes of catching salmon we must learn its hab- 
its of life, just as we would study the habits and 
dispositions of men in order to capture and lead 
them out of their former ways. The salmon be- 
gins life as r-.ear the headwaters of the streams 
as it is possible for the parent fish to swim, 
where the eggs are deposited in the light gravel 
bottoms. Wlien the young fry are about a year 
old they begin their long journey to the ocean, 
which they enter, and then begin their adult life 
in the salt water. But little is known of their 
manner of life during this salt-water period ex- 
cept that they grow with great rapidity and be- 
come very fat, to return in this condition to the 
same fresh water from which they came. On 
arriving at the mouth of their native river, which 
occurs in the spring or summer, as large fish, 
they now are impelled by instinct to seek its head- 
waters, where they in turn will propagate their 
young on the spawning grounds from which they 
came a few \ears before. Male and female make 
this journey together, which, in some instances, 
is many hundreds of miles. They swim about 



The Habitat of the Salmon. 63 

twenty-five or thirty miles a day as a rule, 
though when unimpeded by falls or rapids, they 
will make upwards of one hundred miles in a 
single day. They will swim up violent rapids and 
cascades with wonderful facility, and it is known 
that, under favorable conditions, when there is a 
sufficient volume of water, they will ascend 
abrupt falls cf from twelve to fourteen feet in 
height. In case they come to falls which they 
can not ascend, they do not easily give up, but 
will keep on trying for a long time, and often 
they die in great numbers before giving up. 
Sometimes the river below the falls will be lit- 
erally alive with fish. In the waters of the Co- 
lumbia and Snake countless thousands of them 
make their way above rapids and cascades far 
into the interior of the State of Idaho. 

Salmon City, in the northeastern part of the 
State, is named for the stream on which it stands, 
and which, at certain seasons of the year, abounds 
with this fish, which thus travel nearly or quite a 
thousand miles to find a place where, in response 
to their imperious instinct, they may spawn. 
Early settlers and the Indians tell of streams from 



64 Blazing the Way. 

ten to twenty feet in width which they have 
known to be so crowded with salmon as to make 
fording a difficulty, for the fish would so com- 
pletely cover the bottom of the stream as fully to 
obscure it. All this seems incredible and sounds 
"fishy" to those who are strangers to the facts, 
but is well within the limits of what is well known 
to be true. Lest the reader think me as either 
deceived, or r.s attempting to deceive, in this mat- 
ter, I will quote briefly from a work by Mr. J. K. 
Lord, entitled *'The Naturalist in Vancouver 
Island and British Columbia." He says : '* Salmon 
ascend the Columbia, the Frazier, and other riv- 
ers, in prodigious numbers at the spawning sea- 
son, and proceed hundreds of miles, and even in 
the Columbia a thousand miles from the sea mto 
every rivulet, filling even pools on the prairies 
and flats left by the receding floods." He tells 
of a personal experience as follows: "About a 
mile from my camp was a large, pebbly ground, 
through which a shallow stream found its way 
into the larger river. Though barely of sufficient 
depth to cover an ordinary-sized salmon, yet I 
have seen that stream so filled that fish pushed 



The Habitat of the Salmon. 65 

one another out of the water high and dry on 
the pebbles ; with one's hands only, or more easily 
by employing a gaff, or crooked stick, tons of 
salmon could have been procured by the simple 
process of hooking them out." Mr. Lord be- 
lieves that few, if any, of these fish ever reach 
the sea again. 

In making the annual ascent of the river from 
the ocean to the source, the fish seek to avoid the 
swift water or current of the stream, and ac- 
cordingly they swim close to the shore. This 
fact is taken advantage of in setting wheels with 
which to :catch them, and great numbers are 
caught by this means. Hundreds of these wheels 
are to be seen along the Columbia. In rigging a 
wheel the first thing to do is to select a spot 
where the fish keep close to the shore to avoid 
the swift water, and then to build a lead, or wall 
of piles or stakes, extending down and out into 
the stream at an angle of about forty or fifty 
degrees. This lead is planked or screened so as 
to make it nearly or quite fish-tight for the larger 
fish. At an opening in the lead near the shore 
a paddle-wheel is so set as to close the passage 
5 



66 Blazing the Way. 

as nearly as possible. The paddles, or arms of 
this wheel, are a framework covered with wire 
netting, quite similar to that used in chicken 
parks. This fits loosely on the frame so that 
each paddle assumes the shape of the bowl of a 
scoop-shovel. Across the end of each is a board 
about a foot in width, against which the water 
strikes and forces the wheel to revolve. Of 
course these wire-covered arms come together at 
the axle, which is so built up between them as 
to give a slant toward the outer edge of the wheel, 
at which point of the hub is placed a large tub 
oi vat, into which the fish will drop when caught. 
Remember, the fish are swimming up stream, and 
many of them are near the shore, and come within 
the arm or lead which has been built out from 
the wheel. That big forty pounder butts his nose 
against the piling, or side of the lead, and nat- 
urally turns in the direction of least resistance, 
which is toward the wheel, and follows up the 
lead until he finds himself in the swift water 
just below the fatal wheel. He puts forth a little 
more energy, and soon comes to a break in the 
lead which h^ enters^ and instantly finds himself 



The Habitat of the Salmon. 67 

lifted bodily out of his native element by a twelve 
foot wire spoon, and he begins to flop for free- 
dom, and before the wheel has made another 
quarter revolution he is with his companions in 
a large box without water. 

One July afternoon I was waiting for a train 
at a small station on the south bank of the Co- 
lumbia, and, there being ample time to explore 
the surroundings, I set forth to find a fish-wheel 
in operation. After walking for nearly a mile I 
came to a poorly rigged wheel, which was catch- 
ing but few fish. One must be well equipped if 
he would catch either fish or men. I fell to talk- 
ing with the sleepy attendant, and he informed 
me that over against the large island a half mile 
distant, was one of the best wheels on the river, 
and if I wished to see fish caught 1 had better 
get across. P*ortunately I found a man with a 
small boat who presently put me over to the 
island. On walking down the river bank accord- 
ing to directions, I soon came to a neat cottage 
with other buildings near at hand, while not far 
away was a very large and fully equipped wheel 
in active operation. There was not a person to 



68 Blazing the Way. 

be seen about the house or wheel, and I surmised, 
and afterwards learned, that the people were all 
asleep. Fishing appears to be drowsy work, 
sometimes, whether it be on the river or in the 
pulpit. 

I was at perfect liberty to look about and ex- 
amine the wheel and its fixtures, or at least I took 
that liberty, there being no one present to re- 
strain me. The bin into which the fish fell as 
they were lifted from the water was a large vat 
about fourteen feet square, and fully as deep. It 
was planked over like a huge well, and had a 
windlass in the center of the covering not unlike 
an ordinary well-curb. I could stand on the 
plank by the edge of the wheel and look down 
into its very center, and into the surging water 
below. See that fish in the paddle ! Watch him ! 
Now he falls to the hub of the wheel in obedi- 
ence to the law of gravitation, against which he 
is now powerless so far as escape is concerned — 
for he is out of his natural element — and after a 
few somersaults in the air he is flopping with his 
fellows who have preceded him where there is a 
great scarcity of water. Sometimes there are 



The Habitat of the Salmon. 69 

two or three caught at once, and then there may 
be several revolutions of the wheel before an- 
other white side is turned up. For a half hour I 
watched this interesting and almost fascinating 
process, and saw many fish lifted from the water 
and added to the already large number which I 
knew was beneath me in the bin. 

After a while two men came from the house, 
and they soon relieved my curiosity by uncover- 
ing the vat where the fish were awaiting atten- 
tion. No one could tell by looking how deep the 
fish were lying on the bottom of the vat, but it 
was evident there were many hundred of them. 
Upon inquiry I learned that those now in the vat 
had all been caught during the preceding eleven 
hours. The men were now getting ready to dis- 
pose of the catch, as was their custom to do twice 
during each twenty-four hours. They had on 
long rubber boots, and each was armed with a 
short club. Each also had a bundle of heavy 
cords about three feet in length. After lifting a 
few of the planks which covered the vat they both 
went below by means of a ladder, and with the 
clubs killed all the live fish by striking them on 



70 Blazing the Way. 

the head so as not to be interrupted in their 
work. As often as a fish dropped into the vat it 
was dispatched by a blow from the club. By the 
aid of a long needle, each fish was pierced from 
eye to eye and strung on a cord just as children 
string buttons, until about three hundred pounds 
were strung together. After a score of strings 
were thus used, one of the men climbed out, and 
by the aid of a windlass hoisted the fish up to 
the platform. Then five of these strings were 
tied together by a still heavier cord or rope, and 
this larger string of fish, which would weight 
about fifteen hundred pounds, was then made fast 
to a small, air-tight barrel, and was at once 
shoved off the slanting wharf into the river, 
where soon nothing but the keg was to be seen 
floating with the current. This work went on 
till all were afloat, and I was assured that this 
catch of five tons was nothing unusual for a half 
day's work. 

What became of the barrels and fish thus 
carelessly turned adrift in the river ? About three 
miles further down was a cannery, and in con- 
nection with it was a small steam vacht whose 



The Habitat of the Salmon. 7^ 

manager made it his business to be constantly on 
the watch, and to pick up and tow to the can- 
nery all barrels with fish attached which were 
assigned to this particular establishment. Of 
course each barrel bore the mark of the wheel 
from which it came, and, after weighing the fish, 
the owner was given credit for the amount thus 
delivered by this easy and inexpensive water 
transportation. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Early Religious Workers. 

While on the Lower Columbia let us make 
inquiry concerning the religious and social con- 
ditions of this country ; for this is historic 
ground. It was in the year 1805 that Lewis and 
Clark passed down the river to its mouth. They 
were the first white men who saw the Willamette 
River where it empties into the Columbia at a 
point a few miles below where the city of Port- 
land now stands. On the Washington side of 
the Columbia, nearly opposite this point, is the 
present and comparatively old city of Vancouver, 
where is one of the largest and most fully 
equipped military posts of the government. 

Many years ago, before he became either a 
tanner or a commander of armies, General U. S. 
Grant was stationed at this then far-off "Fort 
Vancouver." Many years before, however, this 
had been a place of great prominence, as it was 
72 



Early Religious Workers. 73 

the most westernly trading station and fort of 
the Hudson's Bay Fur Company, and for a quar- 
ter of a centuiy was in charge of the great and 
good Dr. John McLaughlin, a sturdy Scotch- 
man, who, out of the kindness of his nature, ren- 
dered most valuable service to the early settlers 
and missionaries. Since 1812 the British had 
claimed everything north of the Columbia, and 
this frontier post was designed, among other 
things, to make good this claim, and at the same 
time to serve as a point from which to throw out 
the lines for still larger ownership to lands lying 
to the south. Had the missionaries but staid 
away, no doubt these claims would have held 
good with the statesmen at the National Capital, 
who, knowing nothing of this remote section, 
were disposed to place far too trivial a value upon 
it. But the missionaries came, and with them 
American patriotism and Christian civilization. 

Jason Lee and his associates from the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church were the first to arrive. 
They came in 1834, and at once began work in 
the Willamette Valley. Whitman and Spaulding 
and their young wives came two years later, and 



74 Blazing the Way. 

located east of the Cascades. These were re- 
enforced from time to time by other missionaries 
and settlers, nearly all of whom were induced to 
settle in this far-off country at the earnest solici- 
tation of these men who had preceded them. 
Lee made a trip to the far East in the interest of 
this work and country before the more famed 
visit of Whitman was thought of, and no doubt 
should share the honor with the latter of "saving 
Oregon" to the Union. Which is entitled to the 
greater honor will doubtless remain an unsettled 
question; but that each is deserving of great 
honor is certainly true, and that the country was 
saved to the Union by the early missionaries is 
beyond doubt. Many of these early comers sailed 
around Cape Horn, and others toiled slowly 
across the s:ontinent by most weary and danger- 
ous stages. Thus was developed a Christian so- 
ciety and icivilization in the "Oregon Country," 
the effects of which are still apparent in all the 
regions of vhe Columbia and its watershed. 

In 1853 the work of the Methodist Episcopal 
missions had grown sufficiently to make neces- 
sary the organization of an Annual Conference, 



Early Religious Workers. 75 

which was done at that time by Bishop Ames. 
A year later Bishop Matthew Simpson visited the 
Pacific Coast and held the first regular session of 
the Oregon Conference. An account of this 
memorable occasion and visit of the bishop has 
been given the writer from the lips of an hon- 
ored man and woman in whose home the bishop 
was a guest at that time. It was my privilege to 
meet this interesting father and mother of Ore- 
gon Methodism after they had been married sixty 
years, at which time I was a guest in their home. 
They were then known, as was true during the 
latter part of their lives, as "Uncle George" and 
"Aunt Kitty" Belknap. When it was my privi- 
lege to meet them first they were living about 
forty miles south of Spokane, in Eastern Wash;- 
ington. On learning that they had formerly re- 
sided in the Willamette Valley, I plied them with 
questions and found them well informed in mat- 
ters pertaining to the early settlements of the 
country. Knowing that the Rev. Louis Albert 
Banks came from their section of Oregon, I 
asked if they knew him. "Why, yes, I was his 
Sunday-school teacher," said Aunt Kitty. "He 



76 Blazing the Way. 

was a little tow-Keaded boy, and hardly worth 
raising, but now he seems to show the effect of 
his early instruction." 

No wonder this aged couple delighted to tell 
cf the early days, and of the time when Bishop 
Simpson was entertained in their home! From 
them I gleaned the account of that Conference 
and its stirring scenes. The gathering was held 
at a place about one hundred miles south of Port- 
land, known then, as now, as Belknap Settlement. 
This was at that time four days' journey from 
Portland, chough the bishop made it in a little 
less time by traveling a part of the distance at 
night. All the ministers of the entire Northwest 
were expected to gather here for their annual 
feast of experiences. The meeting had been long 
anticipated, and the preparations were as elabo- 
rate as the country and times could afford. Every- 
thing was new. Portland was not a city, but a 
small log settlement in the wilderness. The larg- 
est house in the vicinity of the seat of Confer- 
ence was a four-room dwelling, four miles dis- 
tant from the log schoolhouse where the gath- 
ering would convene, and this was the home of 



Early Religious Workers. 77 

the leading citizen, George Belknap. There was 
but one team of horses in the settlement, and 
only one spring-wagon, and George Belknap was 
the fortunate possessor of both. How pre-emi- 
nently fitting that he and his good wife should 
be the host and hostess of the bishop while there ! 
He might well take pride in telling of their expe- 
riences after the lapse of forty years. 

We see the lonely pioneer preachers and their 
friends gathering from all quarters a few days 
before the opening session of the great Confer- 
ence. There were giants in the Oregon Confer- 
ence in those days. Those were the men who 
dared great things, and who possessed the ability 
to make bricks almost without straw. They laid 
foundations upon which all future ages will build, 
and time will reveal the fact that the basal struc- 
ture was well laid. This Conference which 
theoretically covered the entire Northwest, and 
was composed of men who had braved the perils 
of a half -world journey to preach the Gospel in 
a new land, was now to convene after a year of 
separation and hard toil. They greet each other 
with characteristic warmth and fervor, after 



78 Blazing the Way. 

which their first inquiry is concerning the bishop 
whom they are all anxious to meet. His fame as 
a great preacher and good man is well known, 
even in this remote frontier Conference. "Has 
he been heard from ? Has he yet arrived ? Where 
can he be?" Such are their inquiries concerning 
their illustrious president, whose visit they have 
been so long and anxiously anticipating. It is 
known that he has been for some weeks in Cali- 
fornia, and that he was to have come by steamer 
to Portland, then up the Willamette to Salem, 
then by team to the seat of Conference. "Is 
it possible he has been lost at sea?" How the 
questions are suggested by the anxious souls ! 

They have waited long for such an event as 
the present. The session is to open on Thursday 
morning, March i6th. The bishop has not yet 
arrived; neither has word been received from 
him. With sad hearts the brethren elect the Rev. 
Thos. H. Pearne, who is a presiding elder, to act 
as presiding officer until the arrival of the bishop, 
if he shall come at all. Meantime the bishop, 
having been celayed by a storm and a belated ves- 
sel, is on a slow-going boat, fast on a sand-bar 



Early Religious Workers. 79 

in the Willamette, not far from Oregon City, but 
with face and heart turned toward the gathering 
in the log schoolhouse at Belknap Settlement. 
The Conference goes on with its business and 
religious services. The absence of a bishop can 
never stop a Methodist Conference. Methodism 
has provisions for every emergency. At this 
Conference, however, there is unusual anxiety 
for the safety of the man who was to do so much 
for them, and who has journeyed so far for this 
purpose. The first day ends with no word from 
the missing man. Friday follows with no news. 
Saturday is like those before it in this all-impor- 
tant particular. Sunday morning comes with all 
its promise and hope, and still no word comes to 
cheer this hopeful and praying company of itin- 
erants. This is the great day of the feast, and 
the Conference love-feast begins at nine o'clock. 
The schoolhouse in the wilderness, with its tem- 
porary addition, a "lean-to," which had been 
built for this occasion, is filled to its utmost. In 
the absence of the bishop it has been decided that 
Thos. H. Pearne shall preach the morning ser- 
mon. Suppose the bishop should come in during 



So Blazing the Way. 

the service ; would any one know him ? He is a 
stranger to all present, but there is not one in 
all that company but thinks he would know him 
if he should appear, they have thought so much 
about him of late. As the sermon is drawing to a 
close a stranger quietly enters, and a gentleman 
near the door rises and gives him a seat. Thos. H. 
Pearne ceases to preach, and, amid breathless 
silence and an excitement so intense as to sway 
every person present, utters these words : "If the 
stranger who just came in is Bishop Simpson, let 
him advance to the front." The stranger, who 
had traveled all night over corduroy roads and 
stump-roots and through mud of uncertain and 
varying depth, who had changed from wagon to 
saddle, and had made the last twenty miles of his 
long and most trying journey on horseback, ad- 
vances to the front amid shouts and hallelujahs 
from all sides. My informants, who were pres- 
ent at this scene, assure me that it was beyond 
description. Finally, however, order was re- 
stored, for all would honor the bishop and wait 
on his words. He tells of his endeavors to meet 
them earlier, and makes reference to his expe- 



Early Religious Workers. 8 1 

riences at sea, and then, to illustrate his feelings 
when in the gi eatest peril, he quotes from Henry 
Kirke White's hymn : 

" Once on the raging seas I rode, 

The storm was loud, the night was dark, 
The ocean yawned, and rudely blowed 

The wind that tossed my foundering bark. 

Deep horror then my vitals froze ; 

Death-struck, I ceased the tide to stem ; 
When suddenly a star arose, 

It was the Star of Bethlehem. 

It was my guide, my light, my all. 
It bade my dark forebodings cease ; 

And, through the storm and danger's thrall, 
It led me to the port of peace. 

Now safely moored, my perils o'er, 

I '11 sing, first in night's diadem, 
Forever and for evermore, 

The Star, the Star of Bethlehem." 

This was more than the pent-up fires of that 
pioneer congregation could stand. Is it any won- 
der they shouted? Would it not be wonderful 
beyond measure if they had not shouted ? 

The late Dr. H. K. Hines was present at this 
Conference, and was a witness of this remark- 
able scene, and has written as follows concern- 
ing it : 
6 



82 Blazing the Way. 

"Reader, did you ever attend a Conference 
love-feast on the frontier, where common suffer- 
ings and deprivations and trials had molded all 
hearts into one; where a universal poverty 
equalized everything, so that there could be no 
classes or grades of appointment? If not, we 
pity you. You have lost the sight of the greenest 
spot that ever blossomed in the path of an itin- 
erant. The love-feast of this Conference was 
rich with experience and history, with pathos and 
unction, all finding expression in word and song, 
in tear and shout, rendering the hour indescrib- 
able. At its close the president of the Confer- 
ence preached a sermon of great power, and 
just as he resumed his seat, the tall form of 
Bishop Simpson appeared in the door, and Con- 
ference and congregation were thrown into a 
whirl of excitement as they welcomed him to this 
lustic sanctuary. When two o'clock came the 
bishop arose in that humble desk to preach, and 
gave out: 

* When I survey the wondrous cross 
On which the Prince of Glory died.* 

How the words of that old hymn beat with 
new life ! And his prayer : dews of heaven could 



Early Religious Workers. 83 

not distill more sweetly. And his sermon: who 
shall describe the indescribable or speak the un- 
utterable?" 

It has been my privilege to converse with 
others who were present at this memorable Con- 
ference, and I find the account as given by 
George and Kitty Belknap to be abundantly veri- 
fied. This honored and elect pair of God's peo- 
ple, who could boast of sixty members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church among their de- 
scendants, were permitted to return to the scenes 
of their early labors, and, surrounded by their 
children and children's children, they were, a few 
years ago, gathered to their fathers. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Among Settler's Cabins and Indian 
Tepees. 

Are the days of frontier work in the 
Church forever gone? To a great extent, no 
doubt, they are ; but there are still sections where 
the circuit-rider finds life and methods of wor- 
ship almost or quite as primitive as it is possible 
to conceive. This is true in numerous extensive 
portions of the Northwest. It is not yet a decade 
since the attention of the writer was called to a 
section in Northern Idaho, situated between the 
North and South Forks of the Clearwater, known 
as the Weip[>e Country. 

As the presiding elder of a district whose 
bounds included this region, I determined to visit 
it, and accordingly set out on horseback to make 
the journey of about sixty miles. It was a beau- 
tiful day in August when I began this ride over 

mountains and through forests of fir and pine, on 
84 



Among Settler's Cabins and Indian Tepees. 85 

a road which I had never before traveled. Where 
to spend the night of this first day was a prob- 
lem of some interest, though of no special con- 
cern; for I had no fear but a place would be 
found, though it might be in the open air under 
the thick boughs of a tree. In the middle of the 
afternoon I learned of an educated and hospitable 
Indian, a minister in the Presbyterian Church, 
who lived about a dozen miles farther on the way, 
and it was possible I might spend the night at 
his home. The road led me across a portion of 
the Nez Perces Indian reservation. These peo- 
ple were numerous in this section. Since 1836 
the Presbyterians have been doing mission work 
among them with gratifying results, and several 
of the natives have entered the ministry of that 
Church, and become useful men in carrying on 
the work among their fellows. The name of the 
minister to Avhose home I was directed was Wil- 
liam Wheeler, a man of ability and good repute, 
and a thoroughbred Indian. He gave me a Chris- 
tian greeting and treated me well ; but owing to 
the severe illaess of his wife it was not convenient 
to keep me over night in his house, which was 



86 Blazing the Way. 

not large ; so, by his permission, I made a bed in 
bis barn, and, being well wrapped in a blanket, I 
slept soundly in the hay-mow till early morning, 
when I resumed my journey. Before the stars 
had entirely faded I was pursuing my way down 
the mountain side near the fording place and 
ferry of the North Fork. What a glorious morn- 
ing for such a ride ! 

Before the sun had touched the Clearwater 
with its first lays I was waiting for the ferry- 
man on the bank of the river. As I waited, an 
Indian girl, of possibly eighteen summers, came 
to the opposite bank and bathed her face and 
hands in the clear cool water, and by her close- 
ness to nature reminded me of the innocent birds 
who were domg the same thing. As she was 
combing out her long black hair I observed the 
low log house from which she had come, and con- 
cluded she was the first of the family to rise ; but 
presently tlie smoke appeared at the opening in 
the top of the tepee, an indication that her mother 
was preparing breakfast. Not far away was an 
Indian church, a modest structure of rough 
lumber, worth possibly three or four hundred dol- 



Among Settler's Cabins and Indian Tepees. 87 

lars, built to seat a hundred people. William 
Wheeler was the shepherd of the dusky and 
primitive flock which is accustomed to meet and 
worship here. A year or two later it was my 
privilege to accept his invitation to address his 
people in this house of prayer, on which occasion 
he was my interpreter. Seven or eight church 
buildings of like character have been built on 
the reservation, and the native ministers are do- 
ing good work among their people. 

Leaving this Indian village, my way led up 
the South Fork for a number of miles, and then 
up a mountain road for ten miles farther. Much 
of the way was through solid forest, but early in 
the afternoon I was among the settlements on 
the high table-lands, where the settlers were mak- 
ing clearings for their humble homes. It had 
been but a few years since people first began com- 
ing into this section, and nearly all had arrived 
during the preceding three years. I had pre- 
viously obtained the name of a Methodist family, 
a product of missionary toil in the Willamette 
Valley years before, which had settled here, and 
I determined to go there for the night, and for 



88 Blazing the Way. 

aid in the work. Although I followed directions 
as carefully as possible, it at last became evident 
that I had lost my way. Having wandered for 
several hours through the beautiful upland pine 
forest which was just as nature had made it, I 
continued to loam about in quest of the right 
place until it was quite dark, when I finally came 
upon a clearmg which proved to be a part of the 
farm I was looking for. 

That night a long-looked-for service was held 
in a schoolhouse a mile distant. There had been 
no public religious service in the community for 
many months. My welcome was warm and genu- 
ine. The people were glad to welcome a Gospel 
minister, and they came from all parts of the 
settlement, some driving as far as ten miles over 
rough and new roads and returning home the 
same night. Of course there were some in this 
community, as is true always, who do not care 
for the Gospel or its representatives, and who 
prefer to live without any reminders of duty or of 
God ; but there were also some who had not for- 
gotten the old home Church in the East, and its 
institutions, and their early surroundings with 



Among Settler's Cabins and Indian Tepees. 89 

Sabbath influences and worship. These were 
glad to welcome any person who would be the 
means of their recalling the past, and whose com- 
ing was a prophecy of the time when the Church 
should become an institution amid their new sur- 
roundings. My visit on this occasion was brief, 
and only two services were held ; but the follow- 
ing January I returned, and conducted a meeting 
for ten days, and organized a Church with twen- 
ty-three members. 

This settlement occupied a ridge of upland, 
heavily timbered, but with a good soil and favor- 
able conditions for successful farming, which 
v/as about twenty miles long by five or six wide. 
Two or three hundred families, or their repre- 
sentatives, were here, making homes for them- 
selves or their children in the dense forest by 
clearing and burning before they could plow the 
land or get :i crop. They had to build their own 
homes, which they did with the material at hand, 
of which there was great abundance, and wher- 
ever there was a clearing there might be seen a 
log house and a barn or two of the same material. 
At this time there was no sawmill within forty 



90 Blazing the Way. 

miles of the settlement, nor was there any sawed 
lumber in the entire community, except the very 
little which had been worked out by hand with 
a whipsaw. Floors and doors were made of 
puncheons or split logs and planks, and the roofs 
were built of shakes, or long shingles split out of 
pine logs. 

In matters of furniture the situation was in 
keeping with the houses, some of which could not 
boast of even a single stove of any sort, the cook- 
ing all being done over the open fire in the great 
fireplace, while, in other cases, there might be a 
cook-stove, and a few of the more pretentious 
houses had an additional stove for heating pur- 
poses, though nearly all depended on the large 
open fireplace. These fireplaces were built of 
stone or mud, or of a mixture of the two, and 
were fashioned after a very elaborate pattern, and 
possessed a tremendous capacity for fuel, heat, 
and cheerfulness. The chimneys were very large, 
and were built of rock held together by sticks 
and dried mud. Nearly all the furniture, includ- 
ing tables, chairs, beds, cupboards, drawers, etc., 
was of home manufacture. Many of the houses 



Among Settler's Cabins and Indian Tepees. 9 1 

had but one or two rooms, and a house with four 
rooms was large and extravagant. However, the 
hospitaHty • )f the people was not dependent upon 
the size of the house. At the close of each serv- 
ice it seemed to me as though each head of a 
family was inviting all others to go home with 
him. No person could possibly accept half the 
invitations he would receive. At times I became 
alarmed for my own quarters when I would hear 
my host asking others to go and spend the night 
with him; for it was inconceivable on my part 
where the people could be provided with a place 
in which to sleep if they should accept the invi- 
tation. But there was always a way out of the 
difficulty, for the people appeared not to be afraid 
of close quarters in the matter of eating or sleep- 
ing. At night both sexes would frequently oc- 
cupy the same room, which would contain sev- 
eral beds or shakedowns, curtained off into sep- 
arate apartments by light calico hangings sus- 
pended from wires strung across the room. In 
case there were not beds enough, the more hardy 
persons would sleep on the floor, each wrapped in 
a blanket before the great fireplace. 



92 Blazing the Way. 

It became my duty and privilege to visit this 
section several times, and finally to dedicate, for 
the use of this people, the best log church build- 
ing I have ever seen, where it still stands as a 
place of worship for these hardy settlers and 
their children. A railroad has been built within 
a few miles of this section, and no doubt more 
modern customs and comforts are being intro- 
duced ; but It is my opinion that no greater happi- 
ness or more generous hospitality will ever be 
known than I found on the occasion of my early 
visits. 

On my tliird visitation to this people several 
other places were included in the itinerary, and 
four or five weeks were spent in the journey, 
which was .^Iso taken on horseback. It was mid- 
summer, and after my work in the Weippe settle- 
ment had been accomplished, and I was ready to 
proceed to the next place, one of the men kindly 
went with me for a few miles to make sure that I 
was started in the right direction and should get 
on the right ti ail ; for I was to follow trails in- 
stead of wagon-roads. My objective point was 
Grangeville, some fifty miles to the south, across 



Among Settler's Cabins and Indian Tepees. 93 

the country, and over mountains and through val- 
leys by trails which were wholly unknown to me, 
as this was my first trip in this part of the coun- 
try. I was m formed that I must strike the old 
Lolo Trail, and follow it across the stream and 
canyon of that name, and then over another large 
divide, and across the Clearwater at the Kamai 
ford, and then up to the table-lands beyond. My 
friend accompanied me until I was safely on the 
trail desired, when we bade each other farewell, 
and I passed on to the south over this well-worn 
path made thirty years earlier during the Pierce 
City mining excitement. Millions of dollars 
worth of gold-dust had been taken over this 
lonely trail, and hundreds, and possibly thou- 
sands, of men had crossed these divides, never 
to see home or kindred again, thus giving them- 
selves in sacrifice on the altar of mammon in re- 
sponse to the lust for gold. 

I slowly felt my way down the steep footpath 
into the Lolo Canyon, whose sides were so steep 
and gloomy with rocks and trees as to present 
the appearance of approaching night. In climb- 
ing the opposite side, and in turning an abrupt 



94 Blazing the Way. 

point I suddenly came upon a company of Indian 
women and children, all well mounted and lead- 
ing a number of loaded pack animals, probably 
on their way to Pierce City to sell their loads of 
produce. Just what the leading young squaw re- 
marked to her companions or to me I shall never 
know, but that it was something very uncompli- 
mentary concerning me, and that it was accom- 
panied with a hearty laugh of ridicule, I have no 
question. She and hers were in a majority this 
time, and the ''Boston man" was alone, and 
doubtless he was as ludicrous in her eyes as she 
was in his, v/hich is saying much ; and if it be 
true, I can cheerfully forgive her and her com- 
panions for their outbursts of laughter. The In- 
dian woman knows nothing of her civilized sis- 
ter's method of sitting on a horse. Sometimes 
two or three occupy the same beast at one time, 
and a frequent spectacle is that of a squaw astride 
a horse, with one or two pappooses attached 
either to her or to the animal. 

This gauntlet being run with no further dam- 
age than I experienced by having my feelings 
ruffled, I went on with no special adventures un- 



Among Settler's Cabins and Indian Tepees. 95 

til I reached the Clearwater, or the Kooskooskee, 
the stream down which Lewis and Clark traveled 
ninety years before. The broad flats about this 
crossing have been the abodes of Indians for un- 
known generations. They were living here in 
great numbers at the time of Lewis and Clark's 
visit, though their homes were often deserted for 
many weeks at a time during the hunting season. 
In the warm valley was their winter home, and 
on the surrounding hills and up among the can- 
yons their horses found pasture during the entire 
year. This community furnished this first gov- 
ernmental expedition with many horses and dogs, 
the former on which to transport their supplies 
and themselves, and the latter to eat ; for this was 
the only kind of meat that could be found at 
that season of the year. So many dogs were 
eaten by the Lewis and Clark people that the 
Indians gave them the name of "dog-eaters." 
The natives living here to-day are the [children 
and grandchildren of those who looked with as- 
tonishment for the first time on the palefaces. 
There is, however, at the present time one very 
old squaw whose memory goes back to the visit 



96 Blazing the Way. 

of these hardy pathfinders, and she tells about 
their peculiar ways, their games, races, and their 
buying things from the natives. This woman 
does not know how old she is, but she certainly 
has seen nearly or quite one hundred snows. 

My adventure at this place at this time was 
as nothing to what it would have been had my 
horse been less sure-footed while crossing the 
river. The water came up on his sides, and my 
feet were kept from getting wet by my placing 
them on his neck. The current was not slow, 
and at times it looked as though swimming would 
be in order. This was the last time, as well as 
the first, that I attempted to ford the Clearwater. 
Once a year later, I made a detour of many miles 
in order to avoid a crossing which was less dan- 
gerous than this. Continuing my ride, after 
reaching the table-lands of what is known as 
Camas Prairie, I came upon a large herd of cat- 
tle, and, on passing through them, found myself 
within a rod or two of a very large and unus- 
ually bold coyote, or prairie-wolf, an animal 
which abounds in all this region. This fellow 
skulked rapidly away when he saw that he was 



Among Settler's Cabins and Indian Tepees. 97 

discovered. No doubt he was prowiing about in 
order to spring upon some of the weaker and 
smaller animals of the herd. It was nine o'clock 
that evening when I drew rein at a farmhouse on 
the edge of the settlement, and asked for a night's 
lodging, which was cheerfully accorded me. 

It was on the return trip by a different route 
that I fell in with an old gentleman whose home 
was near the White Bird, a small stream which 
discharges its waters into the Salmon River in 
the mountain region of Central Idaho. He be- 
came much interested in my work, so far as con- 
versation was concerned, and made loud icom- 
plaint that no minister of the Gospel had ever vis- 
ited his section, and he urged me to do so as soon 
as possible. He represented that there were 
many families living in the valley, and many of 
the children were growing up to be young men 
and women without ever having had an oppor- 
tunity to hear a sermon or even a prayer. I have 
no doubt but this was strictly true, as I have 
known of several places remote from the larger 
settlements where this was a true state of af- 
fairs, and in many instances it has been nearly 
7 



98 Blazing the Way. 

impossible for any minister of the Gospel to visit 
them. At this writing I know of one county in 
the State of Idaho which has a population of 
more than six thousand people, and with an area 
larger than the State of Connecticut, where there 
is only one Protestant minister of the Gospel. 
There is one town in this county with two thou- 
sand people without a minister living nearer than 
twenty-five miles. 

Every similar situation presents interesting 
and important problems, but problems which are 
hard to solve. The question of expense and time 
is one which must always be considered ; for the 
man of God, however willing he may be to min- 
ister to the spiritual needs of such communities, 
is also a man of affairs, and he is forced to con- 
sider the needs of his own family and himself. 
He may be duly appreciated by a few in some 
needy places, but the masses do not care anything 
for him or lii? requirements, or for his message. 
They may be entertained, and in a manner inter- 
ested in the service, the singing, or the social 
features of liis visit, but they do not care to share 
in the burdens of the occasion, or in the support 



Among Settler's Cabins and Indian Tepees. 99 

of the minister. Their theory is that he should 
go freely wherever there are people, but he should 
support himself and defray all expenses of such 
extra visits. A few will generally respond well 
when a collection is taken or a subscription is 
asked for, but the majority are like the man who 
gave as his reason for not supporting the Gos- 
pel the fact that he ''could not find in his Bible 
any place where he was told to pay the preacher." 
This is especially true among farming people in 
places where the work has as yet gotten no hold 
upon their hearts, though the number who sup- 
port the Church without any system or con- 
science, and who can hardly be said to support it 
at all, is much larger than the number who put 
heart and sacrifice into the work. This is true 
of all classes, though it is generally conceded 
that collections for religious or charitable pur- 
poses are more generous among mining people 
than among those who follow agriculture, though 
farming communities are more stable and relia- 
ble after the Gospel work has become fully es- 
; tablished. 

When invited to go and preach or conduct 



lOO Blazing the Way. 

religious services in new and scattered communi- 
ties it has been my custom to make careful in- 
quiry as to the probable permanence of the work. 
Accordingly, in the present instance, I plied the 
old gentleman with numerous questions. He 
was ready with his replies, and his arguments 
were most convincing. "O," he said, "there is a 
large settlement down there, and they will give 
you a great welcome and a crowded house. My 
son-in-law, Mr. S., will announce your coming 
and attend to all the arrangements for the meet- 
ing. He will take care of you while there, and 
the people will show their appreciation of your 
services by doing all in their power to make your 
visit fully satisfactory. We ought to have a 
preacher there all the time, and I think your look- 
ing up the matter will result in your sending us 
one." All this, and much more, the old gentle- 
man said in behalf of that White Bird commu- 
nity which was so very hungry for the bread of 
life, and was nearly starved for the lack of it. I 
accordingly assured him that the next time I 
came within reach of his section I would surely 
make a detour into it, and would do what I could 



Among Settler's Cabins and Indian Tepees. loi 

in co-operation with the earnest people to bring 
about a better state of affairs. 

My visit occurred in the following January. 
I gave two weeks' notice in advance of my com- 
ing to the man whose name had been given me, 
and I assured him that on the loth of the month 
I would be at his place, and asked him kindly to 
arrange for service in accordance with the invi- 
tation which his father-in-law had given me. On 
the morning of the loth I was twenty miles away. 
The weather was cold and the snow was two feet 
deep. I was on horseback — a cold method of 
travel in the winter— but I began the ride into 
the White Biid settlement to preach the Word 
to a people who had been waiting for it through 
long and weaiy years; for this was an old set- 
tlement, which dated back to the time of the early 
mining period of Idaho. I made slow progress, 
owing to the condition of the roads, and having 
no chance to get dinner I went without it. Upon 
reaching the edge of the prairie I began the de- 
scent of the river canyon, which was seven miles 
in length, as the road wound its way about. It 
took me over an old battle-ground where, in 1877, 



I02 Blazing the Way. 

General O. O. Howard fought with the Indians 
in the war with the famous Chief Joseph and his 
cruel followers. The deeper I went into the val- 
ley the less snow was encountered, until at the 
bottom it had entirely disappeared. Here I found 
a goodly settlement, with comfortable homes, 
surrounded with quite extensive orchards of 
peach, pear, and apple trees. The contrast be- 
tween this valley and the uplands, less than ten 
miles distant, was most marked. Here there is 
no snow, and the sheep are running at large and 
finding pasture. There the snow is so deep that 
the sheep and cattle keep close to the barns or are 
in-doors, and winter holds everything in its 
frozen embrace. Here the streams are running 
free from ice, while there they are frozen over, 
and the snow covers the ice. At five o'clock I 
drew rein, dismounted, and prepared to receive 
my welcome. 

*'Is Mr. S. at home?" I asked of a boy who 
appeared in front of the house. 

"No," was his laconic reply. 

"Was he expecting some one here to-night?" 
I further inquired. 



Among Settler's Cabins and Indian Tepees. 103 

''Guess not. I did n't hear nothin' about it." 

**Well, when will he return?" I asked. 

"Not till morning," he said; "he has gone to 
a dance." 

I next ventured to ask if I could get accom- 
modations for the night. 

"Yes," said the boy, "if you can put up with 
my cooking." 

Just at daybreak the next morning, Mr. S. 
and wife and little ten-year-old girl came home 
from the dance. I took the opportunity to ask 
Mr. S. if he had received a letter from me about 
two weeks before this, and he reluctantly ad- 
mitted that he did, but proceeded to say that he 
did not know but something might happen so I 
would not reach them in time, and he did not 
wish to disappoint the people, and had failed to 
announce my possible coming; so I was the dis- 
appointed one. He was generous enough not to 
accept the pay I tendered him for my board and 
lodging, though the boy made full charge for the 
feed and care of my horse. I was not invited to 
return, nor have I since visited that part of the 
country, though fully persuaded that it needs the 



I04 Blazing the Way. 

Gospel, and earnestly desiring to be the means of 
presenting it to this particular place where I was 
once defeated in my plans. The ten-year-old 
daughter of Mr. S. told me her age, and asked me 
if I did not like to dance, and said she had danced 
all night. 

Yes, there are some dark spots in the home 
field outside of the large cities. 



CHAPTER IX. 
A Midwinter Journey. 

On one occasion my work called me to make 
a trip into the northern part of the State of Wash- 
ington nearly to the British line. A local preacher 
was supplying a circuit a hundred miles in length 
between the Columbia and British America along 
the Okanagon River. He had urged me to visit 
his work during the month of January, giving 
as his reason that we could at that time organize 
a Church at the town of Loomis at the extreme 
northern end of his circuit. He gave notice of 
our anticipated visit a number of weeks in ad- 
vance, and the outlook for a successful three 
days' meeting at this place was most favorable. 

On our way into this country a lady at one 
of the stage-houses mentioned that a minister of 
another Church had preceded us on his way to 
Loomis about ten days before. She gave me his 
name, together with the name of the Church of 
105 



io6 Blazing the Way. 

which he had been pastor, and explained that he 
was on horseback, and was leading a heavily 
loaded pack animal, all of which indicated to me 
that he had gone into this section to remain for 
a considerable length of time. My suspicions 
were at once aroused, and with good reason as 
future developments showed, for on arriving at 
our destination we found this enterprising min- 
ister of another Church had been ten days in the 
field, and was being entertained by the people 
who had previously invited us to their home. He 
had been holdmg meetings each night since com- 
ing, had visited almost every family and cabin in 
the community for miles about, and was pledg- 
ing people to join his Church on condition that 
he became its pastor and could obtain a grant of 
missionary money from his Church Board, which 
amount was to be several hundred dollars in ex- 
cess of what we could promise. Under the cir- 
cumstances this minister could afford to give us 
a hearty welcome, and treat us with great cour- 
tesy; for he had the situation in his grasp, and 
understood the game he was successfully play- 
ing. He knew that he had nearly run his course 



A Midwinter Journey. I07 

in his former field, and in the absence of an ap- 
pointing system in his Church, he was now tak- 
ing the matter of a new field of labor in his own 
hands, and to him the affair was of the utmost 
personal importance rather than a concern for 
the extension of the Master's kingdom. The 
weakness of his present position was that he was 
at present occupying the schoolhouse by his serv- 
ices, which had been formerly occupied by our 
pastor in his regular visitations, and now the 
date was at hand in which our services had been 
announced. Also, there were some people in the 
community who were saying, not without a show 
of reason, chat the coming of this man had been 
purposely timed to receive the fruits of our toil. 
This pastor, who had been occupying this field 
for ten days, had come to look upon himself as 
the pastor of the entire flock, and as I was a 
stranger, but well vouched for, he cordially in- 
vited me to preach each night I should remain, 
just as if the meeting and place were all his. 

What a splendid opportunity for a quarrel! 
The feeling of the people was intense. There 
were numbers who urged us to assert our rights, 



lo8 Blazing the Way. 

and go on with our meetings, and organize our 
Church in spite of what this stranger had done. 
Indeed, we found that within us which said this 
was the right thing to do. But others counseled 
another course, and said the place was not large 
enough for two Churches, and thus built up an 
argument for our retiring from the field. Al- 
though certam that we were wronged in this af- 
fair, we determined to avoid a quarrel in doing 
the work of the Lord, if possible, and if in honor 
it could be avoided. Accordingly, we remained 
as previously announced for three days, and 
threw all our mfluence into the service of God for 
saving the people under the direction of this new 
minister, and we advised the people to give him 
and his Church a fair trial, and we agreed to 
withdraw from the field for a time at least, or 
until convinced that we should return and open 
work because of the needs of the field. 

I should say [concerning this peculiar situation 
that this minister who displayed such extraordi- 
nary enterprise and lack of genuine brotherliness 
was the representative of a Church which gener- 
ally does its work in an honorable manner, and 



A Midwinter Journey. 109 

whose authorities would not sanction his conduct 
in this instance. We retired from this field for 
a few years c nd waited, and finally the time came 
for us to reopen our work, when one of our pas- 
tors organized a Church in Loomis, where we 
still have regular service. It is sometimes bet- 
ter to retire quietly from a field than to remain 
in the face of opposition. It is better to suffer 
wrong than to yield to the baser impulses of na- 
ture, and enter into a wrangle which presents a 
pleasing spectacle for the scoffing world. It is 
better to retire from a field having the respect 
and good will of a people, though conscious of 
being wronged, than to remain and distract the 
community with a Church quarrel. Our time 
will finally come, if we possess ourselves in pa- 
tience and watch and wait. 

In this far-away town of Loomis, a hundred 
miles or more from a railroad, it was my great 
and pleasing privilege to meet and take dinner 
with a most refined and cultivated woman, who 
had been the first wife of the third son of the 
notorious Brigham Young. She told me her 
story, which was one of sadness and pathos in 



no Blazing the Way. 

the extreme. She had married through love, 
and with no good reason for not marrying the 
man whom ^he loved. Although she was a Pres- 
byterian by training and faith, she married a 
Mormon in spite of his religion, of which she 
knew but little, believing she would have relig- 
ious liberty and happiness. For years she was 
happily mated, and became the happy mother of 
three splendid boys, whom she loved with all the 
affection of a devoted and true mother. Her do- 
mestic life was all that wealth and love could 
make it, and her every wish was gratified by her 
devoted husband. There came a day, however, 
when he broke the information to her that *'the 
Church" required him to take another wife in 
order to enable him to prove his faith in its teach- 
ings as a condition of his promotion in its coun- 
cils. Then her heart was crushed, as thousands 
of other Mormon wives have had their hearts 
crushed under the same conditions, and she told 
her husband, the father of her children, that if 
he did this thing she would leave him. She 
argued the case with him, and he suffered with 
her; but his ''Church," if we may be pardoned 



A Midwinter Journey. Ill 

for calling it such, demanded it of him, and in 
due time he married his second wife. His first 
wife was true to her word. She left him, and 
gave up her children with him, though as she 
talked with me and showed me his photograph 
and the portraits of her boys, she wept, and I 
understood that her heart had never healed. This 
is only one of the thousands of cases where this 
horrid system has cursed and blighted lives which 
otherwise would have been beautiful and happy. 
This is only one of the many ways in which this 
monster evil works out the will of Satan. 

On our leturn from this place we had an ex- 
perience which is more pleasant as a memory 
than as a piesent fact. My next appointment 
was at Chelan, a place some twenty-eight miles 
from the regular route of travel. It was our in- 
tention to take a stage which made this trip two 
or three times each week; but before reaching 
our point of departure we determined to walk 
the intervening distance. Possibly it should be 
said that the determining cause of this decision 
was that we could not do as Jonah did when he 
took shipping for Tarshish, for he paid his fare. 



112 Blazing the Way. 

With us collections had been light and expenses 
heavy, and the future was uncertain. We be- 
gan our walk at four o'clock in the afternoon. 
It was at a time of full moon, so the night would 
not be dark, though it promised to be cold. How- 
ever, we were in the valley of the Columbia, and 
the first five miles of the course was parallel with 
the river on its north bank. There was only a 
little snow, and none at all when we began our 
march; but soon we began to climb the high 
bluffs, and the snow grew rapidly deeper and 
made walking difficult. About dark we stopped 
at the mouth of the Methow River, and got sup- 
per at a small hotel. At seven o'clock, burdened 
with gripsack and overcoat, we pursued our jour- 
ney, the exercise of walking keeping us warm. 
As the night progressed we reached the higher 
ground, and walking became heavier, but there 
was exhilaration in the pure air under the light 
of the moon and stars. 

The miles seemed to grow longer as we be- 
came more weary. My companion, who was 
familiar with the road, spoke of an Indian cabin 
which we could reach about midnight, where we 



A Midwinter Journey. I13 

could rest till morning, though the sleeping ac- 
Scommodations were uncertain. On reaching it, 
our knocking failed to bring forth any response. 
I' or four or five hours we had not passed a house 
of any description, and the next one was nearly 
ten miles farther on the way. We tried the 
door, but it was fast. We tried again, and with 
more vigor; for our case was urgent, and the 
door was forced under our united pressure. 
''Have you a match ?" asked my companion. He 
had none, and after much fumbhng in my pockets 
it was found that I had only a small piece of one, 
about a half inch long, but it was a piece of the 
right end, and most precious to us in our emer- 
gency. After feeling about in the darkness, we 
finally found the cold fireplace and a small quan- 
tity of fuel. My friend, who had spent many 
years on the frontier, and had fought in the In- 
dien wars under General O. O. Howard and 
others, knew no fear. He was determined we 
should have a fire and a place to rest, for we 
were cold and footsore. A few pine shavings 
were whittled and then we ventured all on our 
8 



114 Blazing the Way. 

precious match-end. It lighted, and then it ig- 
nited the ciirHng end of a shaving. "Behold how 
great a matter a little fire kindleth!" We soon 
had a roaring fire in that great and yawning fire- 
place, and the entire cabin was made as light as 
noonday. We concluded that the Indian family 
which called this place home for a part of the 
year, had been living elsewhere for a long time, 
for there were no signs of recent occupation in 
the form of eatables or beds. For an hour we 
rested on the benches before the fire, nearly fall- 
ing asleep, and then we wearily took up our 
march. 

On and on we tramped, getting colder and 
colder, until nearly four in the morning, when 
we came to a house whose inmates my companion 
was acquainted with. The sky was now clouded, 
and apparently a storm was gathering. We were 
giad to get an affirmative reply to our inquiry 
for a place to sleep and a chance to get warm. A 
"shake-down" was soon prepared for us on the 
floor of the living room near the great box stove, 
and we were soon being soothed to sleep by the 



A Midwinter Journey. 1 15 

music of a crackling fire. At daybreak we were 
disturbed by the call to breakfast, for we must 
eat, and after being thoroughly awakened we were 
glad of the opportunity. We were now within 
a few miles of our destination, which we reached 
before nine o'clock, after another hour's tramp. 



CHAPTER X. 
A Midsummer Tramp. 

The walk described in the preceding chapter 
is by no means the only one I have taken in per- 
forming my regular duties. A walk of from 
eight to a dozen miles at a stretch has been so 
common an incident that nothing is thought of it. 
Indeed, it is mere recreation, and ought to fit 
one for longer tramps. As recently as June, 
1902, I walked eighteen miles on a Sunday after- 
noon, and all that it amounted to for me was the 
exercise involved with the weariness that fol- 
lowed. The pastor of the circuit where I was 
holding quarterly-meeting was absent from his 
work, and I was told that I had been announced 
for service at a schoolhouse some nine miles dis- 
tant for four o'clock in the afternoon. The only 
way for me to reach this place was to walk, 
which I did, and returned in time for the even- 
ing service in town. On reaching the school- 
11$ 



A Midsummer Tramp. 1 17 

house I found, not to my delight, that a mistake 
had been made, and I was not expected by the 
people; so there was nothing left for me to do 
except to turn about and retrace my steps. 
Twenty-mile walks I have taken on many occa- 
sions, and in a few instances have preached im- 
mediately afterwards without thinking of it as 
very hard work, or as anything worth notice. 

The most tiresome walk I ever took was a 
forced and unexpected tramp of fourteen miles 
in a very rare atmosphere, one hot July day. 
The conditions were as follows: Our pastor at 
Junction, Idaho, had undertaken to convey me 
by his horse and buggy across the main ridge of 
the Bitter Root Mountains into Montana, to a 
place about thirty miles from the railroad, where 
I could intercept the stage. Neither of us had 
ever been over this road before, and we did not 
know the distance of the stage-road from the 
summit of the mountains. We allowed plenty 
of time by getting an early start for our ride of 
twenty-five or thirty miles, and slowly and pleas- 
antly we ascended the western side of this lofty 
range of the Rockies, not far from the pass first 



Il8 Blazing the Way. 

crossed by Lewis and Clark in the autumn of 
1805. We passed a splendid and very large 
spring of pure cold water, which bursts from 
the mountain side in a stream large enough to 
float a person of ordinary size. We wonder 
whether this is the spring mentioned by Clark 
in his Journal, from which he and his men first 
drank of the waters which ultimately empty into 
the Pacific by way of the majestic and, to them, 
almost unknown Columbia. It was near this 
spot that they found the Lemhi Indians, from 
whom they purchased horses, and whose friendly 
assistance they obtained in crossing what is now 
the State of Idaho. 

We kept climbing, and at the same time ad- 
miring the wonderful and ever-widening vision 
upon our left as we zigzagged upwards, when all 
at once, as suddenly as the "wonderful one-hoss 
shay" collapsed, one of the carriage wheels which 
had gotten into a rut, went all to pieces, and 
the vehicle and its inmates went over the side 
of the highway in a badly disordered heap. On 
righting ourselves and looking about, we found 
that we were within a few rods of the summit 



A Midsummer Tramp. 1 19 

of the mountain, the dividing line between the 
States, the backbone or ridge of the continent, 
but an unknown distance from our destination. 
My friend, who was a person of many resources, 
and not easily defeated by disaster or difficulties, 
began to strip the harness from his horse with 
the avowed purpose of sending me on my way 
astride of the animal. I refused to entertain 
this idea for a moment, as he would have no 
means of getting himself or horse or broken 
buggy back to his home. After a few minutes of 
consultation it was agreed that miy friend could 
get home easily enough if I were out of the way, 
and that I could get to my destination on foot if 
my friend were out of the way. Accordingly 
we decided to part company, and on the summit 
of the ridge of the continent, from which posi- 
tion we could look for almost unnumbered miles 
either toward the Mississippi or the Columbia, 
we clasped hands and bade each other Godspeed, 
he turning to the west and I to the east. I after- 
ward learned that the owner of the broken wheel 
walked more than a mile to the nearest trees, 
where he cut a sapling with his pocket knife, 



I20 Blazing the Way. 

by the means of which he supported his buggy 
and so rode to town with the sapHng protruding 
from the rear in Heu of the broken wheel. 

As I proceeded down the mountain T found 
that my impedimenta, a gripsack and linen dus- 
ter, to say nothing of a collar of the same mate- 
rial, were not help in such a walk. Fortunately, 
the road led me down instead of up the moun- 
tain. Another bit of good fortune was that my 
gripsack weighed only about twenty pounds when 
I first began the walk, though for the final five 
miles it appeared to grow heavier until it seemed 
to me it would weigh more than a keg of nails. 
Our estimate of the distance I would need to 
walk had been that ten miles would cover it, and 
that three hours could with safety be allowed 
before the stage-coach would pass the point which 
I designed to reach. The sun beat down with 
fierceness, and as the day advanced and as I de- 
scended the mountain, the temperature became 
hotter than one would think. There was no 
means for getting a ride. For five miles the only 
house I passed was a deserted one. I slaked my 
thirst several times at the mountain streams, but 



A Midsummer Tramp. 121 

did not dare to stop to rest. Finally I was cer- 
tain that more then ten miles had been left be- 
hind me, and yet there were no signs of the tele- 
graph poles which I remembered adorned the 
stage-road. I passed a log house, and found, 
upon inquiry, that I had missed my way, thus 
adding another mile to my walk. 

Getting my bearings from this point, I trudged 
on for another hour, and finally came to a ranch 
which I knew was not far from the coveted road. 
I rapped at the door of the large farmhouse. It 
was opened by the owner, a man well known in 
that part of Montana as a wealthy cattleman. 
He gave me a drink of water, and while he was 
getting it I obtained a glimpse of the interior 
of his home. The rooms were spacious and ele- 
gant in finish and furnishings, A log house with 
numerous rooms, fitted up and furnished in mod- 
ern city style, in an open sagebrush setting ! Here 
was a wonder indeed; but it is in a country 
which is in itself a wonder. I asked his opinion 
as to whether the stage for the railroad had yet 
gone, and he informed me that I could learn 
the situation by looking into his private mail- 



122 Blazing the Way. 

box at the forks of the roads a half mile farther 
on ; for if it had, there would be no mail-pouch 
in it; and if it had not yet passed, the pouch 
would still be there. I was so weary that I could 
hardly walk, and the few minutes I had spent at 
his door had almost taken away my power of 
locomotion; but a half mile more would not re- 
quire a great effort, so I pushed on, though weak 
and lame and footsore. Presently I came in sight 
of the red mail-box fastened to a tall post in the 
triangle formed by the meeting of the ways. A 
minute more and I had lifted the door, and there 
was the pouch of letters waiting for the govern- 
ment's faithful servant to carry its contents to 
all the earth. 

This is Horse Prairie, first seen by the white 
men in 1805, but the feeding ground for Indian 
ponies for three-quarters of a century longer. 
Sagebrush is its native product, but this is giving 
way in irrigated spots to meadows and cattle 
ranches. On this occasion I did not spend much 
time in viewing the scenery, or in trying to enter 
into sympathy with Lewis and Clark. All senti- 
ment had for the time being been taken out of 



A Midsummer Tramp. 123 

me. I lay down flat on my back in the sagebrush, 
and hoisted my umbrella as protection against the 
sun, and rested for a full hour before I heard 
the rumbling of wheels which told of the ap- 
proach of a Concord coach with four horses. 
Resting there by the fence under the shade of my 
umbrella was the easiest thing I ever did. 



CHAPTER XL 

Profanity and Liquor. 

A PRESIDING ELDER has a great variety of ex- 
periences, and that, too, with all kinds of people. 
This is especially true in a new country. Men 
and women of the baser sort are in many in- 
stances brazen in the publicity of their evil, and 
they seem to care but little who may know what 
their occupation may be. Profane talk of the 
vilest kind is frequently indulged in with perfect 
license in the presence of men, and sometimes 
even before women. There is but little satisfac- 
tion or good realized in rebuking or even in 
frowning upon such conduct, though one may 
hold himself far above it. If profane talkers 
come to understand that a listener is averse to 
such conversation, they will after a time gen- 
erally refrain, unless they are in a decided ma- 
jority. 

I recall an experience I once had with a very 
124 



Profanity and Liquor. 1 25 

profane and swearing man while waiting for a 
stage in a country post-office. This man came 
into the room where several persons were wait- 
ing, and his swagger, oaths, and profanity were 
apparent in all he did or said. He was about 
sixty years of age, well dressed, and apparently 
was a person of good business ability. Presently 
the conversation drifted to the time when, years 
before, he was a teamster in a certain mining 
camp, and he told of the great times he had with 
his horses, and how he used to swear at them 
when they did not pull to his liking. He pre- 
sented the appearance of one who gloried in his 
profanity, both as a memory and as a present ex- 
perience. His uninvited conversation seemed to 
be addressed to me or toward the place I was 
occupying, as though he wished to improve the 
opportunity of impressing the stranger with a 
sense of his great importance and smartness. 
Presently I asked him if he thought his horses 
did any better by being sworn at, and he affirmed 
that he thought it helped them. I then became 
suddenly interested, and told him I was making 
something of a study of the philosophy of profan- 



126 Blazing the Way. 

ity, and in my desire to learn something on the 
matter I would be pleased to have him give me 
his theory as a swearing man, as to why men use 
profane language. I further explained to him 
that such language was not considered to be ex- 
actly proper or polite in the best society, and 
suggested that I presumed he, though given to 
profanity, would not swear in the presence of re- 
fined ladies or in the presence of his mother, if 
she were living. Again I asked him to give me 
a good and valid reason why men of intelligence 
and ability should use profane language; for 
surely there must be some reason, or men of 
sense would not indulge in it at all. Somehow 
the air of bluster suddenly left this man, and he 
began to look embarrassed and surprised. 
Finally, as I continued to press my question upon 
him for an honest and candid reply, he stam- 
mered that he thought swearing answered as a 
safety valve when a person was angry. But I 
objected that men were not always angry when 
they were swearing. "You have not been angry 
since coming into the room, and yet you have 
given us several examples of speech that I do 



Profanity and Liquor. 1 27 

not think you would use in the presence of some 
persons whom you know. What I want is a 
good reason for such language on the part of a 
man of good sense when there is no anger in the 
case, but when persons are calm and collected." 
He then affirmed that he did not make a practice 
of swearing in the presence of ladies, though 
essaying a feeble defense of his practice in other 
company. My comment in reply was to the 
effect that there were some men who were enti- 
tled to as great respect as were the ladies whom 
he would not insult. In this manner we quietly and 
yet seriously discussed the subject until the ar- 
rival of the stage which we both mounted. We 
occupied the same seat, and for ten miles we 
talked on various matters, and our themes of 
conversation were not marred by any words of 
profanity. At this time neither knew who the 
other man was, but I afterwards learned that my 
companion was a well-known and wealthy sheep- 
owner of Southern Idaho. 

On another occasion, having been for a num- 
ber of days in a section remote from the usual 
Imes of travel, I was on a return trip at a sta- 



128 Blazing the Way. 

tion, or stopping place for travelers, and was in 
the act of polishing my shoes at the barn where 
I had just stabled my horses, when all at once a 
torrent of oaths and curses assailed my ears. This 
was accompanied by laughter and ridicule, and 
proceeded from a stranger on horseback who 
was in the act of reining in. He asked why any 
man should polish his shoes in such a country 
as this, and as he asked the question his adjec- 
tives were such as would not appear well in print. 
As soon as he gave me a chance to reply I sug- 
gested that clean shoes were not out of place for 
a gentleman, no matter where he might be; 
whereupon he ridiculed the idea of my being a 
gentleman, and affirmed with oaths that he knew 
who I was, and what my business was, and he 
at once pronounced me a drummer. "Yes," he 
added, **a whisky drummer, and a San Francisco 
whisky drummer at that." Half an hour later 
this vociferous traveler was very profuse with 
his words of apology. 

No person can truthfully say that he is free 
from the liquor business, for he often comes in 
touch with it in some form or another. With the 



Profanity and Liquor. 1 29 

licensed saloon in nearly every town, and at many 
country places, it is impossible to get out of the 
reach of this baleful thing, and all classes and 
persons feel its effects in many ways. I have 
known many persons who have engaged in this 
traffic who would be glad to get out of it, but 
hardly know how to do so, for they are held fast 
by its toils, or else they lack the strength of char- 
acter which should determine them to declare for 
a better life or a better business. The following 
is a rather unusual instance, but it presents its 
moral. 

One cold December morning I took my place 
on an uncovered stage for a brief journey. The 
last passenger to emerge from the hotel from 
which we were about to start was a well-dressed 
man in middle life, who took his seat by the side 
of the driver directly in front of me. He ap- 
peared to be an ordinary traveling man, who 
probably represented, we thought, some large 
wholesale house. He was quick in step and act- 
ive in movement and speech, and appeared to 
be on the best of terms with himself and the rest 
of the world of humanity. He irjamediately be- 
9 



130 Blazing the Way. 

gan a brisk conversation with the driver, occa- 
sionally looking about him at the other pas- 
sengers. In less than ten minutes he suddenly 
turned about and looked me full in the face and 
abruptly said : "I do not know what your busi- 
ness is ; but as for mine — well, I am not ashamed 
of my business." Then he abruptly repeated the 
statement that he was not ashamed of his busi- 
ness, and volunteered the information that he was 
engaged in selling liquor for a Chicago whole- 
sale house, and then for the third time told us that 
he was not ashamed of his business. 

Up to this time no one had said a word about 
his business, nor had any reference been made 
by any person to the liquor problem in any of 
its many phases. This interesting stranger next 
went into a defense of his position. He prefaced 
it by saying that he had only contempt for any 
person who was fool enough to drink or to get 
drunk. He declared that he never sampled his 
own wares ; in fact, he was a total abstainer ; he 
believed and freely admitted that liquor-drinking 
was the greatest possible curse to humanity, but 
insisted that people would drink the stuff, and 



Profanity and Liquor. 13I 

so some one must handle it, and it should be 
handled only by good men, and therefore he was 
in the business, and that for the money it would 
bring him. He talked on and on, and again as- 
sured us that he was not ashamed of his busi- 
ness. I had previously heard of this man, and 
still a few weeks later my attention was called 
to him, and in every instance he was reported 
to have talked in the interest of total abstinence, 
though actively engaged in selling the article 
which he evidently abhorred. In conversation 
with him on this occasion he admitted that he 
had been brought up under Christian influences, 
his mother having been a Christian. Was not 
this man really and heartily ashamed of his busi- 
ness, and was he not trying to ease his troubled 
conscience by his course of reasoning? 

Not many days later I had an interesting ex- 
perience with a saloon-keeper at three o'clock on 
Christmas morning. I had boarded the stage at 
Lewiston, Idaho, in order to catch the train ten 
miles distant, so as to reach home in time for 
Christmas dinner with my family. Before leav- 
ing town tlie driver halted before a brilliantly 



132 Blazing the Way. 

lighted saloon, and shouted to the inmates, using 
more or less profanity, as is too much the custom 
of stage-drivers in the West. We could see men 
inside who were apparently drinking and carous- 
ing. Finally, after the driver had nearly lost his 
patience by continued calls and oaths, three men 
came out, and one of them, who needed to be 
supported by the other two, managed to get into 
the rear seat of the open vehicle then used on 
that line for carrying passengers. Drunken fare- 
wells were shouted in broken language, mingled 
with wishes for a merry Christmas, and the stage 
darted off into the darkness toward the ferry; 
for the river must be crossed before we could 
begin the ascent of the mountain on the other 
side. The weather was quite cold, and a light 
snow was falling. Our hilarious saloon-keeper 
was the sole occupant of the rear seat of the 
wagon. We halted on the bank of the river, and 
our Jehu began to shout in order to awaken the 
ferryman, who was asleep at his home on the 
other side of the stream. In this occupation he 
was assisted by the passenger last received, whose 
shouts were at first very loud and boisterous ; 



Profanity and Liquor. 133 

but after a little they became less frequent and 
more faint until in a few minutes, on looking 
about, I found he was fast asleep, as was evi- 
denced also by his loud and jerky breathing. So 
helpless had be become that he was in danger of 
falling out of the stage. The driver was troubled 
on this account, and accordingly indulged in 
more profanity. He finally asked if I would not 
ride with the helpless passenger on the rear seat 
and hold him in. Thus it came about that the 
minister and the saloon-keeper occupied the same 
seat, and the latter pillowed his head on the 
shoulder of the former after a very loving and 
confiding manner, and unconsciously breathed his 
alcohol-laden breath into my face. This was not 
a case of politics making strange bedfellows, nor 
of the "brewer and the Sunday-school man" vot- 
ing the same ticket, but it was an instance of 
very intimate association, though one party was 
hardly willing, and the other was wholly un- 
conscious. 

The ferry being crossed, we began to climb 
the mountain in the darkness. Haste was re- 
quired in order to catch the train, and a single 



134 Blazing the Way. 

delay of a few minutes might make it impossible 
to reach home before the next day; and this 
would not do, for the saloon man and myself 
were each bent on joining our respective families 
before the glad Christmas day should pass. We 
had proceeded nearly a mile, I suppose, when I 
made the discovery that my charge was hatless. 
Then I recalled that when he came out of the 
saloon he wore a fine Derby hat, and was a better 
dressed man than his guardian. Should I now 
ask the driver to halt and institute a search for 
the missing head-gear, and thus incur a further 
loss of time ? Had we not already lost sufficient 
time because of this man? Now that he was 
peacefully resting was it not prudent to let him 
rest? I reflected that I was occupying this par- 
ticular seat for the purpose of keeping this help- 
less mortal from falling out, and not to look after 
his wardrobe, and accordingly I decided that his 
hat was out of my jurisdiction. Thirty or forty 
minutes passed and the snowfall was increasing. 
Finally my charge's ecclesiastical pillow became 
uncomfortable, or, possibly the snow beating on 
his uncovered brow disturbed him, and he roused 



Profanity and Liquor. 135 

up, at the same time bringing his hand to his face 
and then to his head. He gave me a pitiful and 
troubled look and slowly said: "Have — you — 
seen — anything — of — my — ^hat?" I suppose I ap- 
peared much surprised as I replied that I had not 
lecently seen it, whereupon he cried out: "Say, 
driver, I have lost my (hie), my hat. Can't you 
hold on a minute and help me find it?" We all 
joined in the search for the missing head-piece, 
but my intimation to the driver that it was prob- 
ably a mile or more down the canyon appeared to 
settle the matter so far as he was concerned, and 
he drove on. Our further search under the seats 
failed to disclose the property. As we proceeded 
after the loss of less than a minute's time, I pro- 
ceeded to wrap my companion's head in an old 
comforter of various colors, making sure that he 
had room in front for his headlight nose, and 
after I had him well done up he looked like a na- 
tive Indian so far as head-dress was concerned. 

We caught the train, and had time sufficient 
for my friend to purchase a new hat, which he 
did. By this time he thought he knew enough 
to operate a railroad all by himself, so he struck 



13^ Blazing the Way. 

for independence from my further ;care, and 
sought the smoking apartment, and, judging 
from what followed, he must have frequently 
consulted his gripsack, which evidently con- 
tained goods other than wearing apparel. Two 
stations further on we all changed cars, but my 
drinking friend failed to change in time to catch 
the train needed, and his family certainly ate 
their Christmas dinner without his cheerful pres- 
ence that day. It was a wistful and sad look 
which this unfortunate man cast toward the de- 
parting train as he apparently tried, with success, 
tc occupy more than his rightful portion of the 
platform which we left behind us. It was indeed 
pitiful. It is strange that men will take to them- 
selves that which "steals their brains" and makes 
them fools. 



CHAPTER XII. 
Ignorance and Filth. 

How MANY wretched homes there are ! How 
many are such when there is really no good rea- 
son for the condition! Many are made such 
through intemperance, while other causes enter 
into the conditions in other cases. Laziness and 
slovenliness are responsible for much misery. 
Sometimes people become discouraged in the con- 
flict of life, and give up in utter despair, and do 
not even attempt to have a pleasant or comforta- 
ble home. If either the husband or the wife is a 
sloven, the home will suffer as a result. It is ex- 
ceedingly unfortunate when the husband is not 
as neat and thoughtful as he should be; but if 
the wife is the one at fault the situation is even 
worse, for she is either the home-maker or the 
home-destroyer. A lazy, shiftless, "ne'er-do- 
weel" husband can not destroy a home so quickly 
or completely as a shiftless wife. 
137 



138 Blazing the Way. 

We sometimes think of squalor and filth as 
belonging to the worst parts of a great city, and 
we forget that it is also easy to find in the coun- 
try. This condition is not peculiar to any sec- 
tion or community. It is found in city, town, 
and country, where there are many homes which 
are far from being the abodes of happiness and 
peace. In a few instances the situation is possi- 
bly unavoidable, as in the case of disaster, sick- 
ness, or death, accompanied by extreme poverty ; 
but in the great majority of instances, love, fru- 
gality, hard work, cheerfulness, good cooking, 
with a liberal use of soap and water, would effect 
a change for the better if a fair trial should be 
made. 

It is true that some sections of the country 
are very trying on the tidy housewife and home- 
maker. This is generally true of the country 
sections of the Rocky Mountain region. The 
light volcanic dust is not conducive to a heavy 
growth of vegetation, especially where the rain- 
fall is so very light, and there is nothing to keep 
it in place during the dry season; and when the 
rains :come this dust is quickly converted into a 



Ignorance and Filth. 139 

sticky mud, which is easily tracked into the 
houses. 

We must admit this is not a clean country, 
nor is it an easy one for the housekeeper. How- 
ever, there is a danger lest these natural obstacles 
be sometimes taken as an excuse for allowing 
things to go for the present, and thus general 
shiftlessness results in more filth and unhappi- 
ness abounding than is necessary. Then, too, 
some people appear to have the idea that, with- 
out wealth, comfortable home-life is out of the 
question. This is a mistaken idea, for wealth 
does not always make a good home, and, on the 
other hand, good and comfortable homes are 
often found where there is comparative poverty. 
I know of many homes of both kinds, and have, 
times almost without number, been a guest in 
humble parsonages where the support was small, 
but where the home in many and in essential 
matters was ideal. I have often been entertained 
at other places among our people of various oc- 
cupations where the home-life in spite of adverse 
conditions nearly approached the perfect. It has 
been my privilege to see beautiful homes incased 



140 Blazing the Way. 

in a log structure or in a house of rough boards 
lined with newspapers. I have also seen squalor 
and filth and wretchedness in houses which gave 
signs of wealth, and where there was no doubt 
as to the financial ability of the owners. The 
difference is due, not so much to physical sur- 
roundings or conditions as to the soul, and the 
determination of the persons involved. 

A few winters ago I went for the first time 
into a well-settled and prosperous section, and 
introduced myself at the home which had been 
designated as my stopping place during my visit. 
For a number of weeks it had been known that 
I was to be there at this time, so my coming was 
no surprise to the people. It was three o'clock 
in the afternoon when I arrived, and found the 
mother and grown daughter busily engaged in 
washing and scrubbing. It required but a single 
glance to show the necessity for this work, which 
had evidently been badly delayed. The house was 
in utter confusion, and all signs pointed to the fact 
that such was its normal state. There was 
abundance of room for the large family and their 
guest, but there was not a place where one could 



Ignorance and Filth. 14 ^ 

sit down in comfort. The day was very cold, 
and that night the mercury fell to several de- 
grees below zero. Three rooms down-stairs were 
thoroughly wet with the water which had been 
left after the washing had been concluded, and 
they were hastily scrubbed in my presence. Four 
cotton sheets were taken from the tub after four 
o'clock, and tacked on the sides of the living 
room by two corners, and that night I slept be- 
tween two of them, and still live to tell the story. 
Soon after four o'clock the children began 
to come in from school, and then "confusion was 
worse confounded." Almost the first thing they 
did was to strip off their shoes and stockings so 
as to warm their feet by the fire. Then came the 
fight, almost a pitched battle, between the mother 
and the older boys, as to who should do the 
chores, such as caring for the horse, bringing in 
wood and water, etc. One boy actually went out 
in his bare feet for several rods through the snow 
and ice, and brought in a pail of water. The 
misery and lack of comfort in that household 
beggars description. I had been announced to 
preach there that night at eight o'clock, and be- 



142 Blazing the Way. 

fore we sat down for the evening meal, so late 
was it that the neighbors began to gather, and 
no preparations for the services had yet been 
made. 

I quote the following from my notes of this 
visit: "Such a home! The wife is a sloven, and 
seven children are like her. There is no family 
government on the part of either parent. There 
is much evidence of something very closely allied 
with heathenism. The floors are covered with 
filth, and all else corresponds. There is not a 
decent chair in the house. I am expected to re- 
main here a day and two nights. It is bitter cold 
weather. The supper is very late. I would not 
mind if it were entirely omitted. Rough boards 
are dug out of the snow, and are brought into 
the house for seats during the service. Parents 
and children quarrel again as to who shall bring 
in the wood. At the close of the meeting three 
children are fast asleep on the floor. They have 
by choice been without shoes or stockings since 
coming from school. At eleven o'clock at night 
all is quiet; but at six-thirty the next morning 
all hands are up, and the quarrel for division of 



Ignorance and Filth. 143 

clothes, position at the stove, etc., begins. The 
dog is the best behaved member of the entire 
outfit." 

The foregoing is not a fancy sketch, but his- 
tory real and terrible. And yet the father and 
mother in this household passed in the community 
ar religious people ; and I will not say they were 
not, in a sense, religious. Indeed, they bore a 
reputation among some as being very religious, 
and it is certain they were devoted to certain 
forms which are ordinarily called religious, and 
they could each pray with fervor, and sing with 
earnestness, so far as voice and movements of 
the body are concerned; but the ''fruits of the 
Spirit," so far as I could judge, were almost en- 
tirely wanting. Poverty was not a valid excuse 
for this household being in perpetual warfare 
with itself. Poverty could not account for the 
filth and disorder which abounded. Ignorance 
and shiftlessness are the words which explain 
the situation in this and in thousands of similar 
instances. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Indian Types. 

Thus far in this little book not much has been 
said concerning the natives of the soil. I have 
barely mentioned the work being done by the 
Presbyterian Church among the Nez Perces, and 
there is much more that could be told if it prop- 
erly came within my plan. My design is to relate 
only that which has come under my immediate 
and personal observation, or that which is well 
vouched for by well-known and trustworthy 
friends. It is generally conceded that the work 
done by the Presbyterians among the Nez Perces, 
and that of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
among the Yakimas, has been successful to a de- 
gree beyond the ordinary mission work with In- 
dians, and has proven to be a great blessing to 
the natives and of valuable assistance to the gov- 
ernment in caring for its wards. 

Under this instruction the Nez Perces have 
144 



Indian Types. 145 

learned to observe the Sabbath in a manner which 
should be a lesson to the pale faces. In some 
other respects these Indians may be classed 
among heathens, as they cling to their supersti- 
tions and ancient customs with great tenacity. 
It requires generations of faithful teaching and 
most patient and thorough training to transform 
the Indians into well-developed Christian citi- 
zens. Indeed, this is true of all heathen peoples. 
It was true of our ancestors, and will be true as 
long as uncivilized people continue to live. Yet 
sixty years of faithful service in doing mission- 
ary work and living with the natives tells won- 
derfully in lifting a people from abject degra- 
dation. 

I once heard a freighter tell how he learned 
what day of the week it was on one occasion 
when he crossed the Nez Perces Indian Reserva- 
tion. He had been to Lewiston after a load of 
goods, which he was to take into the interior of 
the State about sixty miles, his road lying across 
the reservation. The goods had not yet arrived 
when he reached Lewiston, and not knowing 
when they would come, he decided to purchase a 

IQ 



146 Blazing the Way. 

load of potatoes from the Indians on the return 
trip, and thus make the journey of some profit 
rather than return without a load. When he 
came among the Indians he attempted to pur- 
chase potatoes, which were all ready for digging, 
but met with absolute and short refusal, as they 
informed him it was Sunday, and that they did 
not dig or sell potatoes on that day. He tried re- 
peatedly to get his load, but was forced by these 
Sabbath-keeping natives to wait until Monday 
before he could get his potatoes. These Indians 
had learned their lessons well, and their lessons 
include other subjects besides this of Sabbath 
observance, though in some things, as we would 
expect among people just emerging from heath- 
enism, they are quite deficient. Like white peo- 
ple, their moral conduct is affected by their en- 
vironment. This idea will appear from what 
follows : 

On one occasion I was on my way by horse 
and saddle to the town of Grangeville, in North- 
ern Idaho, and was journeying eastward on the 
north side of the Clearwater. It had been my 
intention to ford this stream at a place called 



Indian Types. 147 

Holt's Ranch. Mr. Holt, the owner of this ranch, 
was a squaw-man; that is, a white man who is 
married to an Indian woman. His place was on 
the opposite side of the river from me. Two 
boys from the station where I had spent the 
night went with me to assist in finding the proper 
crossing place. On reaching the river opposite 
Mr. Holt's place, the boys, who knew the people 
well, shouted for information as to the safety of 
crossing at the present stage of water, and they 
were answered by a dusky maiden of eighteen 
summers, a daughter of Mr. Holt. The water 
made so much noise that she could not hear us, 
nor could we hear her, so she took a long pole, 
and stepped lightly into a dug-out, and in an in- 
credibly short time was on our side of the stream. 
She informed us that whenever the water was 
ever a certain rock it was considered dangerous 
crossing, and this was the present condition, and 
she advised that I keep on up the river for a 
dozen miles, and cross at Grier's Ferry. She ex- 
plained that the way for a considerable distance 
was over a dangerous and rocky trail, but this 
plan would be safer than to attempt to cross here. 



148 Blazing the Way. 

I acted on her advice, and found the trail all that 
she had claimed for it. My horse was a very 
surefooted animal, but so dangerous was the nar- 
row path, and so high was it above the river in 
places that I was glad to walk much of the way 
rather than run the risk of falling for hundreds 
of feet into the surging waters below. 

Finally, in the early afternoon I reached 
Grier's Ferry. Here was a solitary house and 
barn, with several out-buildings, and a small cur- 
rent-propelled boat, which was hanging by its 
cable near the shore. A young man was digging 
potatoes in a small field near the house. He ap- 
peared pleased and surprised at seeing me, and 
small wonder, for he presently told me I was 
the first person he had seen in three days. I 
asked him if I could get dinner for myself and 
feed for my horse. He replied that he would 
feed my horse, and me also, if I would put up 
with his cook, explaining that he was his own 
.cook, and that he was all alone. While caring for 
the horse he inquired where I was going, and 
then asked if I was not going to remain over 
night with him. I replied that I intended push- 
ing on in an hour if he would put me across the 



Indian Types. 149 

ferry. He replied by asking where I intended 
sleeping that night, and said I did not look as if 
I would enjoy staying with the coyotes. He 
added that unless I was a better rider than he 
took me to be I could not possibly get to the 
nearest house before nightfall. Accordingly, I 
decided to remain until morning before contin- 
uing my lonely journey. 

About sunset we were joined by another trav- 
eler, a solitary Indian on horseback, followed by 
four ponies, all without loads. He had been to 
Pierce City with oats, and was now returning 
home on the reservation. The young man, mine 
host, seemed to know him well, and called him 
by his first and, possibly, only name. At first the 
Indian appeared to be uncommunicative, and did 
not care to converse with me. After a time the 
young man explained to him that I was a minister 
of the Gospel, and at the same time informed me 
that the Indian was an elder in the Presbyterian 
Church. After supper the Indian and myself 
found ourselves alone, and after giving me a 
look of more than ordinary interest, he said : 

"You a minister?" 



150 Blazing the Way. 

"Yes," I replied. 

"What Church?" 

"The Methodist." 

"Hugh !" Then, after a brief pause, he added, 
"The Methodists are a very good people." 

This I interpreted to mean that he considered 
the Methodists would do very well, but were not 
so good as the Presbyterians, and I honored him 
for his loyalty. He now took a new tack and 
said: 

"I like to ask you a question." 

"Very well," I replied; "I will answer it if 
I can." 

I expected a question in theolog>% and in this 
I was not disappointed. 

Before narrating the remainder of the con- 
versation it will be necessary to explain a local 
situation. A Mr. A. was the superintendent of 
the mission work on the reservation at this time. 
A Miss M., for many years, had been the suc- 
cessful teacher in the Bible and theology among 
the Indians. The Rev. William Blank was an or- 
dained Indian minister and pastor, a man who 
was held in high esteem among his native 



Indian Types. 15^ 

brethren as well as among the whites. A few 
months before this time his wife had died, and 
he had recently married again, and his present 
wife was his former wife's younger sister. The 
question which my Indian companion now asked 
was: 

"Do you think it is right for a man to marry 
his wife's sister?" 

Suspecting that the Rev. William Blank was 
this man's pastor, and being cognizant of the cir- 
cumstances as just stated, I thought I discovered 
the local and personal character of the question, 
but I replied that I knew of nothing in the Bible 
which would condemn this act as a sin if the 
man's first wife were dead, and if he loved her 
sister and her sister loved him. 

The stoical native started at first as if in an- 
ger ; then he appeared to think better of it, waited 
a minute before making any reply, and then said : 

"Well, Mr. A., he say it wrong; Miss M., she 
say it wrong ; and William Blank, he used to say 
it wrong;" he actually smiled now, and slowly 
added, "But we think he must have forgot." 

I :came to the conclusion that this Indian 



152 Blazing the Way. 

elder possessed the grace of charity in no small 
degree. 

Rev. William Blank's marriage created more 
than ordinary interest among the Indians. Some 
of the white people were also interested, but for 
another reason than that which concerned the 
members of the flock. The one was a theological 
and social question. The other was a question as 
to how much heathenism can remain in Christian 
Indians and they retain their place on the side of 
Christianity. During many generations it has 
been a custom among the Indians, when one of 
them gets married, to pay a price for the bride 
either in horses or in other articles of native 
wealth. The young man at Grier's Ferry told me 
that, a few days before the marriage of William 
Blank, he went up the river with a band of horses, 
and when he returned he had a young wife and 
twelve fewer horses. The circumstances were 
explained to mean that he had paid twelve horses 
for his wife. Possibly he had merely made his 
father-in-law a present. In either case there 
are white people who would hardly gain a repu- 
tation for consistency if they should criticise him. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Jonah Hays, the Christian Indian. 

Jonah Hays was an interesting and well- 
known Indian of the Nez Perces tribe. He was 
a man of prominence among his people during 
the war of 1877, when Chief Joseph led the red 
men in rebellion and bloody war against the 
whites; but he cast his fortunes with the pale- 
faces and on the side of humanity. At that time 
he had been a Christian for many years, and he 
became one of General O. O. Howard's most 
trusted scouts. While his red brethren were mur- 
dering the whites and committing the most hor- 
rible depredations upon women and children, he 
was true to his religion and the government. My 
acquaintance with this man goes to prove the un- 
truthfulness of the too oft repeated saying that 
the "only good Indian is a dead Indian." No 
doubt there is much treachery and wickedness 
153 



154 Blazing the Way. 

among the savages, and the evil of their nature is 
very deep-seated, the same as it is in savages of 
other colors. But Christianity has done much 
for ''poor Lo," and, while many are not as good 
as they should be, it is certain that many are in- 
finitely better because the Gospel has been pre- 
sented to them, and some stand the test of en- 
vironment and temptation as well as their white 
brethren. We must remember that the Indian 
has had the benefit of only a brief period of civ- 
ilization as compared with his conquerors. 

But we return to the Indian, Jonah Hays. 
Just a week before the opening of an Annual 
Conference in Walla Walla, in 1892, he con- 
fronted me on the street, and asked for enter- 
tainment during its session. I had never before 
heard of him. He explained to me at length that 
he was a Methodist and a local preacher, and 
that he had been converted under the ministry 
of the Rev. J. H. Wilbur, and while nearly all 
the Christian Indians had joined the Presby- 
terian Church, he and his family had remained 
true to the Church of his first love. 

''But, Jonah," I explained, "you have come 



Jonah^Havs. the Christian Indian. 155 

here a week too early for Conference, for it does 
not convene until a week from to-day." 

You should have seen the look of disappoint- 
ment which he gave me in response. He then 
proceeded to tell me how far he had journeyed 
with his pony to attend the Conference. His 
great, bony arm swept the horizon from the east 
to the south as he explained that he had gone a 
great distance out of his way in order to preach 
the Gospel to the Umatillas, and he evidently 
thought that act was of sufficient merit to meet 
with my approval. He finally drew his story to 
a conclusion by saying: 

"And now me too soon for Conference, and 
me have no money, and me do n't know what to 
do." 

I confess to have entered into sympathy with 
him, for I, too, did not know what to do — with 
him. After a little reflection I took him to the 
parsonage, as many a minister has done with 
the guests of the Church, and there I showed him 
a room, and told him that he would sleep there 
every night until the close of Conference. I next 
went with him to a restaurant, where I arranged 



156 Blazing the Way. 

for his board, and furnished him with meal 
tickets sufficient to last for two weeks, after 
which I provided a place and care for his horse. 

Jonah Hays was then a happy Indian, and he 
showed it by every act and look. For two weeks 
he had liberty fully to gratify his nature, and do 
nothing but eat and sleep, if he should so choose ; 
but he elected to do more than this. He fairly 
reveled in religious services. During the week 
before the opening of the Conference he visited 
all the Churches of the city to which he could 
gain access, and took an active part in all the 
prayer-meetings, and made many friends among 
all classes, and seemed thoroughly to enjoy all his 
opportunities. When the Conference assembled 
he was on the very highest pinnacle of good feel- 
ing, and entered with hearty interest into all its 
services, and was highly elated at the privilege of 
shaking hands with its ''head chief," the good 
bishop. 

He did not spend much time in his room ex- 
cept at night, and he proved to be an easy guest 
to care for. His bed had been prepared just as 
it would have been for a white guest, but he gave 



Jonah Hays, the Christian Indian. I57 

no signs of having slept in it even once during 
the entire two weeks of his stay. He no doubt 
slept rolled up in a blanket on the floor. There 
was water in his room, and soap and towels were 
at hand for his use, but none of these things were 
ever disturbed. We came to the conclusion, and 
with evidence, that our guest, who rose early, 
went to the stream flowing through the city, each 
morning, and there, as his fathers had done for 
many generations, he bathed himself. We gave 
him the freedom of the entire house, and no 
doubt he would have taken it anyway, as is the 
custom with the Indians. He invaded every room 
in turn, and sometimes would appear when un- 
looked for, and without even a semblance of an 
excuse for his presence. He would follow my 
wife in the kitchen like a little child, or he would 
suddenly appear in the parlor when and where 
his presence was not especially desired. In evi- 
dence of gratitude for his entertainment, he one 
day, near the close of his visit, opened conversa- 
tion with my wife when he was following her 
about her duties, and he rehearsed the whole 
story of his journey to the seat of Conference; 



158 Blazing the Way. 

he told of his early arrival and conversation with 
her husband, and of his subsequent entertain- 
ment and good times, and finally concluded by 
saying, "Your man a heap good man." When 
we bade him good-bye he was profuse in his ex- 
pressions of gratitude, and he presented me with 
a well-bound copy of John's Gospel in the Nez 
Perces tongue. 

When I next saw Jonah Hays, more than a 
year afterwards, he was even more verbose in 
his expressions of thankfulness and appreciation, 
and at this time I was his guest. This came 
about in the following manner: 

I was now presiding elder of a district which 
included the Nez Perces Indian Reservation, in 
one of the fertile valleys of which Jonah had his 
home. The larger part of this district was made 
up of a great wheat-growing section, known as 
the Palouse country. Wheat was the almost sole 
product of the farms, and the people were de- 
pendent upon this crop for their living. The crop 
of 1893 was unusually large, even for this most 
productive section, and had it been harvested and 
sold, would have paid off many a mortgage be- 



Jonah Hays, the Christian Indian. 159 

sides providing the people with the necessaries 
of life; but just at the beginning of harvest, and 
several weeks earlier than usual, the rains be- 
gan to fall, and, with slight intermission, were 
constant for many weeks. Occasionally there 
would be a few days of sunshine in which the 
headers and reapers would be set to work, but 
before what was cut could be threshed, or even 
stacked, the rain would begin again; and thus 
it continued until long after harvest should have 
been ended. 

That season will long be remembered and 
will pass into the history of the country as the 
autumn of disaster, or the Wet Fall. Fully 
ninety per cent of the grain perished in the field 
and brought the owners almost no returns. 
Many of the ranchers had gone in debt in pre- 
paring for the crop and in caring for it, and 
now, after the harvest time, they had nothing 
with vv^hich to pay. Such another season had 
never been known in this section, and now, after 
ten years have gone, none like it has come. Much 
of the grain which had been threshed, molded and 
spoiled in the bin or sack. Many of the people 



l6o Blazing the Way. 

who formerly had an abundance of the good 
things of Hfe suddenly found themselves in a 
condition of actual want. It was a time of gen- 
eral distress, both in country and city ; for all 
classes suffered, and many people lost their farms 
and homes and all their earthly possessions in 
the panic which swept over the land, and which 
was especially severe in this drowned-out wheat 
section. The support of our pastors, which in 
times of prosperity was only meager, now sud- 
denly became less than half what was actually 
needed for a comfortable support. Many of our 
people struggled and sacrificed most heroically in 
the attempt to maintain the Church and her min- 
istry; but, in spite of all, there was great pri- 
vation. 

I recall one man who, from his youth, had 
been wont to support the Gospel with liberality. 
He rose in the congregation when a collection 
was being taken, and told how he would delight 
in paying toward the support of the work, and 
he cried out : "But I have n't a nickel to my 
name. I could as easily pay a million dollars as 
a nickel, and, what is more, I do not know where 



Jonah Hays, the Christian Indian. i6l 

the next nickel is to come from which is needed 
in the support of my family, nor do I know how 
my children are to live through the winter." He 
broke down and wept as he concluded, and others 
joined him in tears; for they knew that every 
word was true, and some of them were in a like 
condition. It is difficult to say what some of our 
pastors would have done during that trying win- 
ter and the one which followed, had we not been 
able to draw, in a few instances, small sums from 
the contingent fund of the Missionary Society. 
Now that these years of sore trial are past, we 
are able to look back and see how God's hand 
was with his people even in the darkest of those 
days, for He overruled for good. Farmers were 
driven, by the stress upon them, to take up diver- 
sified farming, and they learned, in the school of 
necessity and experience, that it was best to have 
more than one thing to depend upon, and since 
then they have not tried to "carry all their eggs 
in one basket." The people also learned valua- 
ble lessons in economy, and came to know some- 
thing of the joys of helping one another when in 
need. 



l62 Blazing the Way. 

Better than all this, these trials turned the 
attention of the people to the fact that riches of 
an earthly character are very unstable, and that 
the greatest need of humanity is the wealth of an 
eternal character which God supplies to His chil- 
dren; and thus many persons, finding all their 
earthly support gone, and realizing as never be- 
fore the utter vanity of mere earthly property, 
turned to God and obtained the real riches of 
divine grace. So it came to pass that these hard 
times, as they were called, came to be the best 
times spiritually that the Church in these parts 
had ever known. Revivals of religion were larger 
and more general than ever before, and thus 
times of refreshing from the Lord came to help 
out in this time of greatest need. It is a pleas- 
ing fact that our ministry was loyal and staid by 
the work, and kept the Gospel fires burning with 
more than ordinary fervor during all this period 
of depression and suffering. Indeed, many were 
the acts of heroic sacrifice on the part of both 
pastors and people. 

It was in the midst of these times, near the 
close of October, 1893, ^^^^ "^7 work called me 



Jonah Hays, the Christian Indian. 163 

to visit a section about seventy-five miles east 
of the nearest railroad point in Northern Idaho. 
I held quarterly-meeting in the town of Ken- 
drick on Sunday, and was due at my next ap- 
pointment, seventy-five miles distant, a week 
later; but how to get there across the country, 
with no means of conveyance, was the problem 
which confronted me. As was the rule during 
these times, my allowance for salary was not 
more than half met, and I was at my wit's end 
how to make ends meet and pay for transporta- 
tion to the next place. I went to a livery barn 
and inquired the price of a horse and saddle for 
ten days, and found it would cost me ten dollars. 
The price was reasonable enough; but I did not 
have more than half that sum, and the rule of 
the Discipline about not running in debt was 
very pertinent at this time; for I could see no 
probability of paying any debts which I might 
contract. I was comforted by the reflection that 
I had a whole week in which to make the jour- 
ney, and I said to myself that I could walk the 
distance in that time ; so, without mentioning the 
subject to any one else, when Monday morning 



164 Blazing the Way. 

came I was off bright and early, and on foot. It 
was a beautiful day and I enjoyed the walk this 
first stage of my journey. 

My course lay across the Nez Perces Indian 
Reservation. I followed the Potlatch Creek down 
to the Kooskooskee, as the natives call that river ; 
then down this stream to the ferry at Lapwai, 
the old Indian Mission Station which was estab- 
lished in 1836. Here I crossed the river, and 
continued my walk up the Sweetwater Creek, and 
after a tramp of more than twenty miles I came 
to the home of Jonah Hays about four o'clock in 
the afternoon. Jonah gave me a most cordial 
greeting, and clung to my hand with childlike 
glee at the joy of seeing me again. While stand- 
ing before his home, which consisted of a small 
frame house and a wigwam of cloth standing 
near it, he went into a lengthy recital of how, 
more than thirteen months before, he had gone 
to Conference, and he again repeated the story 
of that expedition, and told of how I had cared 
for him, and how he had returned to his home, 
and he concluded his narrative by calling me by 
name and saying: *'You are my friend; you 



Jonah Hays, the Christian Indian. 165 

come in and stay with me." Then he suddenly 
turned to me again, as if he had forgotten some- 
thing, and asked: "Where are you going? How 
far have you walked to-day?" Upon my reply- 
ing to his questions, he added, again calling me 
by name : ''Too much walk ; too much walk." I 
almost knew that the next day I should ride. 

I found two families living in the establish- 
ment of Jonah Hays : himself and wife, and his 
married daughter and her husband, a white man, 
and their numerous children. The house had two 
rooms, one of which was very large and extended 
across the entire front of the building. This was 
a sort of combination living and sleeping-room, 
while the one in the rear was the dining-room 
and kitchen. The cloth tepee at the side of the 
house appeared to be of the primitive sort, with 
a fire in the center, a hole at the peak for the 
escape of smoke, and with ample room about the 
low sides for men, women, and children to lie 
with their feet toward the fire. That night all, 
except Jonah and his squaw and their guest, slept 
in the tepee, and the exceptions occupied low 
wooden beds of home manufacture in the house. 



l66 Blazing the Way. 

A couple of hours after my arrival it be- 
came evident that the evening meal was in a 
state of preparation, and a little before dark I 
was invited to sit down with the entire family 
to supper in the rear room of the house. A 
glance sufficed to convince one that there was 
enough to eat ; for there were three or four quar- 
ters of dressed beef in various degrees of mutila- 
tion hanging on the sides of the room, thus mak- 
ing convenient resting places for the swarms of 
flies which infested the place, and which other- 
wise would have no doubt rested on the table. A 
long table was covered with oilcloth, on which 
were the various dishes and food. I did not re- 
main hungry for a very long time; in fact, my 
appetite left me before I began to eat. Nearly 
all present seemed to relish the meal and ate 
heartily, and probably not more than one of the 
company noticed a not agreeable odor from the 
dressed meat which adorned the walls. I had no 
doubt but mine host was doing his best by me, 
and I was truly grateful. 

Not long after supper the neighboring In- 
dians, in response to a loud call from the throat 



Jonah Hays, the Christian Indian. 167 

of Jonah, began to drop in, and the conversation 
which I could not understand, was quite ani- 
mated. Presently my "friend" told me in good 
English that we would now have family wor- 
ship, and that after singing he would expect me 
to read the Scriptures, and talk to his neighbors 
and lead in prayer. The singing was in the lan- 
guage of the natives and consisted of a very gut- 
tural rendering of "Jesus, Lover of my soul," 
accompanied by a very marked swaying of the 
body. Their stolid brown faces glowed with 
fervor and animation as they warmed up to the 
spirit of this old hymn, which appears to be 
adapted to soothe and comfort the burdened 
hearts of all tribes and races of men. During 
this service the women were seated on the floor, 
as there were only chairs enough for the men, 
and no self-respecting Indian would think of 
giving his squaw the preferable seat on an occa- 
sion like this. Such is the long-seated custom of 
heathenism, and it requires more teaching and 
example of Christianity than these Indians have 
yet possessed to reverse the old order of things. 
During many generations the women of the 



1 68 Blazing the Way. 

tribes have performed the menial and hard serv- 
ice of procuring fuel, digging camas, carrying 
water, and bearing heavy burdens for the ease 
and comfort of the men, and they have thor- 
oughly learned the lesson that in honor the lord 
and master is to be preferred. 

The next morning soon after breakfast, which 
was before daybreak, Jonah again informed me 
that my walk was too much for me. Doubtless 
had I been a woman he would have thought 
nothing of it; but he disliked to have the sex 
disgraced by walking as I had been doing, and 
accordingly he appeared to be much exercised 
in mind on my account, fearing that I would 
perform too much of this kind of womanly serv- 
ice. I confessed to a feeling that he was telling 
the truth when he affirmed that I had walked too 
much, and soon I was made glad by noticing 
that Jonah was busy with his horses and saddles. 
It was not long before two horses were in readi- 
ness, and, one being assigned to me, we were 
soon on our way up the mountain which now 
must be crossed. Jonah accompanied me about 
twelve miles, which, considering the ascent, was 



JonaK Hays, the Christian Indian. 169 

a positive "lift" on my journey, and his kindness 
was fully appreciated. 

Before we parted he asked me to stop with 
him on my return, and urged me to fix the date, 
as he wished to have a meeting at which I should 
preach and administer the sacrament of baptism 
to one of his grandchildren. I complied with 
his wishes so far as making the appointment was 
concerned, after which he again reminded me 
that I was his friend and he mine, and we shook 
hands on the summit of Craig Mountain under 
the whispering pines, and I took up my tramp 
with the feeling of thankfulness that this Chris- 
tian man, though a native son of the forest, was 
my friend. 

During the next eight days my appointments 
were all met in their regular order, and it was 
my fortune to find friends who proved their 
friendship by helping me on my way, so that I 
did not walk more than half the distance in either 
going or returning. On the return trip I spent 
a night at a very pleasant and hospitable home 
about twenty-five miles from my Indian friend. 
The next night I would be due at the latter 



170 Blazing the Way. 

place, and the intervening distance must be 
walked in a single day. The roads were quite 
heavy with mud, as the wet weather was still 
the rule. After an early breakfast I began the 
tramp for the day. The rain had now turned to 
snow, which was falling rapidly, and was three 
or more inches deep. Of course the walking 
through the ever-deepening snow on a mud foun- 
dation was anything but easy. On and on I 
trudged, the snow getting deeper and deeper for 
the first half the distance. At last, after noon, I 
came to the regular stopping place for travelers, 
and rested for a while, and then tramped on. 

As I descended the mountain the snow de- 
creased in depth, and finally turned to rain as it 
fell. About dark, as I was now well down the 
mountain, the rail fell in torrents, and before I 
reached my destination the mud was nearly as 
deep in places as the snow Had been on the moun- 
tain. That day's tramp finally came to an end 
about eight o'lclock, at which time I knocked at 
the cabin of my friend Jonah, thoroughly tired 
and fully drenched. I was truly in a sad condi- 
tion, and hardly fit for religious service of a pub- 



Jonah Hays, the Christian Indian. 17 1 

lie nature ; yet the people were expecting me, 
and soon would begin to come for worship. I 
was glad to sit by the side of a great box-stove 
and dry myself by the heat of the roaring wood 
fire within. I drew off my socks and wrung the 
water out of them, while my shoes and trousers 
steamed in very gratitude. After the evening 
meal, which was somewhat delayed on my ac- 
count, I resumed my position by the fire to com- 
plete the work of desiccation, while the congre- 
gation was assembling in the same room. 

After a little time about twenty of the dusky 
natives were present and waiting. These were 
men, women and children, and more than half 
were crouched in heaps on the bare floor. Though 
it was still raining on the outside, these people 
did not miss the opportunity of assembling for 
worship. They were not afraid of spoiling their 
clothing or of loosing the crimps from their hair. 
They came with nothing but nature's covering on 
their head, unless it might be a blanket, which 
was used in some cases by being drawn over the 
head and shoulders or wrapped about the body. 
The few feathers which were worn on this occa- 



17^ Blazing the Way. 

sion were not ostrich plumes, and no flowers or 
ribbons were employed to set off their peculiar 
style of beauty. 

After the baptismal service Jonah led in sing- 
ing, in which exercise nearly all present joined, 
and at its conclusion mine host turned to me call- 
ing my name, and saying in a tone of authority, 
"You preach." In spite of his bearing and com- 
mand, and knowing that he was the leading man 
of the community, and realizing that I was his 
guest, still I did not feel in the spirit for preach- 
ing. It seemed to me that a sermon was hardly 
needed on this occasion, but a very brief talk with 
a selection from the Word, read and explained 
in a familiar manner, would do more good and be 
more fitting. So I read a passage from the Gospels, 
and gave a few practical hints which I thought 
might do some good, and then turned to Jonah 
and with all the authority at my command, I 
said, "Jonah, now yoii preach." He was greatly 
pleased, and was certainly as willing as obedient, 
for he rose and in his own tongue addressed his 
neighbors for about twenty minutes, I have no 



Jonah Hays, the Christian Indian. I73 

doubt more to their understanding and edifica- 
tion than I could have done. Meantime I sat by 
the stove and continued the drying process until 
I felt that my clothing was as dry as my words 
had been. 

As there was other company in the house that 
night, nine of us, men, women, and children oc- 
cupied the same room. The cloth tent outside 
was also full of lodgers. Though having a bed 
all to myself, I was restless, and the night seemed 
to be unusually long. Nine persons in one poorly 
ventilated room of ordinary size constitute alto- 
gether too dense a population for comfort or 
health. 

The next morning Jonah again showed his 
friendship by saddling two horses, and then, in 
a steady rain, which lasted during the entire 
journey, he took me back to my starting point at 
the terminus of the railroad. About noon we 
entered the town, where I provided Jonah with 
stable-room for his horses, and we took dinner 
together at a restaurant which Jonah persisted in 
calling a ''little hotel." My trip of ten days, ow- 



174 Blazing the Way. 

ing to the goodness of my friends and the prac- 
tice of close economy, had cost me less than two 
dollars. In this, however, I do not count the 
items of "wear and tear" over against which 
must he placed interesting and valuable expe- 
rience with Indians and others. 



CHAPTER XV. 

The Elijah of the Coeur d'Alenes. 

In January, 1893, I paid my first visit to the 
Coeur d'Alenes, as the highest group of moun- 
tains in Northern Idaho is called. This is a well 
known and justly famous mining region, from 
which many millions of dollars' worth of silver 
and lead and other minerals have been taken. 
The region is about one hundred miles to the 
east of Spokane, in the Pan Handle of the State. 
The towns of the section in order of size are Wal- 
lace, Wardner, Murray, Mullen, Burke, and 
Gem. The first named is a wholesale and resi- 
dence town ; the others are typical mining camps, 
where the floating population of toilers make 
their homes, many of which are of a temporary 
nature. 

This group of towns and camps, with the in- 
tervening country, has a population of about ten 
thousand people. The section is reached by two 
175 



176 Blazing the Way. 

railroads, branches of the Northern and Union 
Pacific systems. For many years this region has 
been known, and with good reason, as a very 
wicked section. Saloons, gambling dens, and al- 
lied evils are everywhere to be found, and at this 
time were all ''wide open." There were but a 
very few of the people who made any distinction 
among the days of the week whereby a Christian 
Sabbath was recognized, nearly all kinds of work 
being done and business conducted on that day 
the same as on others. Drunkenness, carousals, 
and fightings were so common as to attract little 
or no attention beyond the excitement of the 
moment. This section has since been the scene 
of several riots and labor troubles of such mag- 
nitude as to require the presence of the militia, 
and even the troops of the General Government, 
in order to protect life and property, and a few 
years ago the entire section was under martial 
law for several months after an outbreak of more 
than ordinary violence, which resulted in the loss 
of life and much valuable property. 

At this particular time when I visited Wallace 
and Wardner, one of our ministers had been in 



The Elijah of the Coeur d'Alenes. 177 

charge at the latter place for a number of years, 
but had not succeeded in effecting an organiza- 
tion of the Church at any of these places. This 
was a strange situation, where a Methodist min- 
ister could serve as pastor for a long time, 
among ten thousand people and fail to organize 
some of them into societies. At Wallace the 
Southern Methodists had a church building and 
a small class, but their efforts were rewarded by 
very small results. The Protestant Episcopalians 
and Baptists, each had a building here also, but 
appeared to be accomplishing but little. 

Our pastor, who lived at Wardner, was an 
old and highly esteemed man, who was familiarly 
known as Father White, a handsome and pa- 
triarchal person in appearance, and as noble and 
good and true as he looked. He was a man 
who knew no compromise with evil or the ap- 
pearance of evil. He was very blunt and out- 
spoken in manner and speech, and at times, when 
wrought up with his theme, whether in preaching 
or in conversation, he presented the appearance, 
to people who did not know him, of being in an- 
ger ; but a kinder man at heart never lived. He 



178 Blazing the Way. 

loved the people he worked among as a true pas- 
tor always does, though only a few were fortu- 
nate enough to make the discovery, such a 
strange and rough way had he of showing his 
affection. He was a voice crying in the wilder- 
ness of sin about him. His conception of his 
ministerial duty was that he must cry out against 
iniquity and spare not, and faithfully did he per- 
form his mission. He effected no organization 
of the Church during his four or five years' pas- 
torate in this field, for he found but few whom 
he was willing to receive into Church fellowship, 
and these few were unwilling to enter upon this 
unpopular relationship. He delivered his mes- 
sage whenever and wherever opportunity af- 
forded, not only on the Sabbath in his hired hall, 
but in the home, the hotel, the market, the mine, 
the office of the mine owner or manager, or wher- 
ever he could find one or more to listen. If any 
persons gave him opportunity to speak his mind, 
they were in courtesy compelled to hear him to 
the end. His hobby was Sabbath observance, 
and he firmly believed, and therefore taught, that 
people must keep God's law of the Sabbath or 



The Elijah of the Coeur d'Alenes. 179 

the entire structure of society would topple into 
ruin. He everywhere taught that the miners of 
the Coeur d'Alenes would come to grief if they 
continued in their course of disobelience. He 
talked to the managers and owners of the mines, 
and wrote to the absent stockholders, and his 
voice of warning declared that they were "sow- 
ing the wind, and they would reap the whirl- 
wind." He repeatedly affirmed that this was a 
region of unsurpassed wealth, and if properly 
managed it would be as it ought to be, a very 
prosperous and happy section, but to this end the 
people must keep God's laws. His censures upon 
the mine-owners were most severe and persistent. 
He would frequently ring the changes on the 
truth as follows: "If you insist upon bringing 
a lot of men here and refuse to allow them to 
keep the Sabbath, you are helping to break down 
the home and all kindred institutions. Some men 
would gladly rest on the Lord's day, but you will 
not permit it, as you require them to toil seven 
days in the week, and if you force men to break 
God's law you must not find fault if they break 
man's law, too. You will some day see this when 



i8o Blazing the Way. 

it will be too late, for you will suffer from the 
hands of the very men whom you now force to 
toil in violence of the laws of both God and man." 
Thus he hurled the truths of his soul at all classes 
of violators of law, and some were compelled to 
listen and to tremble as he poured in the truth 
with words of fire. 

Father White met me at the station as I 
stepped from the train at Wardner that January 
day, and we walked and talked together for a 
mile up the canyon, where the town extends along 
both the terraced sides of the ravine, now stripped 
of its native trees. We climbed up a rugged foot- 
path on the mountain-side to the cabin which 
served as the parsonage. This man of God was 
without family on earth, and lived alone in a log 
house of one room, twelve by fourteen feet in 
size. Here he slept, and read, and thought, and 
prayed. He lived near God and he spoke God's 
message. People respected him when they nearly 
broke his heart by disregarding the truths which 
he uttered. He had a number of faithful hearers, 
and no doubt some of them were Christian peo- 
ple. His Sunday-school, which met each Sab- 



The Elijah of the Coeur d'Alenes. l8l 

bath in the schoolhouse, doubtless accomplished 
much good among the children, though it was 
not a popular institution. Most people who knew 
Father White would acknowledge that he set 
them to thinking, and there is no good reason for 
doubting that he was all the time sowing seed 
which in time would bear a harvest for others to 
gather. 

On the occasion of this visit we went to Wal- 
lace to study the situation at that center. We 
stopped at a hotel, in the public room of which 
there were about forty or fifty persons idling 
away the time and trying to keep warm, for the 
weather was bitter cold. The dining-room ad- 
joined this office or waiting-room, with an open 
arch between. While eating my dinner, Father 
White remained in the office with the men. Pres- 
ently I discovered that he held the floor. I in- 
ferred that some one had asked him about the 
conditions at Wardner, and in reply he made a 
ten-minute speech which contained several ser- 
mons in one, but, like concentrated food, the 
substance was all there. He was walking the 
floor, and he held his audience well as the truth 



l82 Blazing the Way. 

rolled from his lips in impassioned oratory. He 
was saying something about like this : 

"There will be trouble yet in this region. 
The mine operators have brought in men to work 
for them, some of whom would be glad to rest 
on the Sabbath, and all of whom would do better 
work if they did, for it always pays to keep the 
commandments of the Creator ; but they are not 
allowed to do so, and as a result of their enforced 
violation of God's commands, they are taught to 
break human laws and disregard all law, and as a 
further result there will come a time when they 
will trample all law under foot, and we shall 
have a condition of anarchy. I tell you this 
course will yet cost the owners of these mines 
millions of dollars, besides much bloodshed. I 
have watched this thing all the way from Califor- 
nia and Nevada up to the British line for the past 
forty years, and I know the truth of what I say ; 
and when it is too late men will see that I tell 
the truth, and they will then rue the day they 
thus trampled under foot the laws of Jehovah. 
Suffering, sacrifice, and blood will all follow such 
a course as is now being pursued.^' 



The Elijah of the Coeur d'Alenes. 183 

In this manner he drove the truth home to the 
hearts of his Hsteners ; for none could with safety 
interrupt him while speaking. He had learned 
that, in order to have his say out to the finish, he 
must keep on talking regardless of what might 
take place, and accordingly his rule was to keep 
at it until he had carried his point by making his 
auditors listen, whether they agreed with him or 
not. His prophecy came true in this case to the 
very letter. He spoke with the foresight of a 
seer. He earned for himself the sobriquet of 
"the Elijah of the Coeur d'Alenes," by which 
honored title he was known by many. 

Ten years have passed since then, and great 
progress has been made by the Church in those 
parts. We now have societies or classes in five 
or more places, have three good church buildings 
and two parsonages, and we are strongest in Wal- 
lace, where at that time we had not even a name 
to live. It is my belief that Father White, with 
all his peculiarities, did a good and much needed 
work in that section, and was the forerunner of 
others who have been more successful builders; 
but Father White laid the foundation upon which 
they have built. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
Oasis and Desert. 

The lakes of Northern Idaho are famous for 
their beautiful and picturesque setting. The 
water is deep and clear and pure, and the moun- 
tains, in many instances, rise to dizzy heights 
above the surface. Their sides are covered with 
fir and pine, and their reflection on the mirror 
surface of the water is almost beyond descrip- 
tion. These lakes are, for the most part, water- 
filled canyons, with the sides extending for a 
long distance both below and above the water's 
edge. So still is the water of these almost 
fathomless lakes that all sediment sinks to the 
bottom and the water issues at the outlet pure 
and clear. 

The largest of these fresh water bodies are the 

Lake Coeur d'Alene and Lake Pend d'Oreille, 

each being about fifty miles long by from one to 

thirty miles broad. In common with all other 

184 



Oasis and Desert. 1S5 

lakes of this section, these abound with fish and 
are the home of countless waterfowl. The outlet 
of Lake Pend d'Oreille is a river bearing the 
same name, a most beautiful and interesting 
stream which flows to the northwest through 
forty miles of the most beautiful and picturesque 
natural woodland and meadow one ever saw, un- 
til all of a sudden it appears to plunge into the 
solid side of a wall of rock, but in reality enters 
a narrow box canyon with high and precipitous 
walls, which extend upward for many feet on both 
sides of the now narrow and raging torrent. In 
the time of high water, which occurs in the 
month of May when the snows melt from the 
mountains, this canyon is too narrow to allow the 
increased volume of water to pass as rapidly as 
it reaches its entrance, and, as a result, it backs 
up and overflows a vast extent of country, thus 
forming a great lake which lasts for a few weeks 
cf each year, and submerges many square miles 
of splendid meadow lands. The farmers who 
own this land build their homes, barns, and other 
buildings at the base of the surrounding hills at 
what is supposed to be above the high-water 



l86 Blazing the Way. 

mark. Sometimes, however, in the event of very 
high water, the buildings become partly sub- 
merged. 

A few years ago a minister was sent for the 
first time to serve this section. I shall not soon 
forget my first visit to this virgin field, because 
of the novel method of reaching it and of my 
hearty reception by the pastor and his good wife. 
I went by rail to the nearest station, thinking to 
go from there by stage-coach to a place called 
Usk, which was the center of the community ; 
but, on arriving, found there would be no stage 
for two days, as the route had only a twice-a- 
week service. What to do I did not at first 
know; but, upon inquiry, I learned that Usk, 
where our pastor was supposed to reside, was 
down the Pend d'Oreille River about twenty 
miles. The thought came to me that if I could 
get a small boat I could, in the half day still at 
my disposal, row and float down to my destina- 
tion, and send the boat back to its owner by a 
steamer which occasionally passed up and down 
the river. This thought became a fact, and that 
afternoon I enjoyed one of the most pleasant and 



Oasis and Desert. 187 

interesting beat-rides I had ever taken. It v/as 
a beautiful summer day, and all nature was smil- 
ing in sunshine. The scenery was as wild and 
varied as the native forests described by Cooper 
in his tales of early New York. The water of 
the river was so clear that schools of fish could 
be distinctly seen at the bottom of the stream 
as they sported on the light gravelly bottoms. 
The river was quite wide and shallow in places, 
and elsewhere it became a narrow and rapid 
torrent. 

Night overtook me before Usk was reached, 
and when I finally came to it I did not know the 
place until I made inquiry at the one house 
which constituted it, and gave shelter to the post- 
office. When I found the pastor, it was at his 
home in a log house a mile distant. What a 
hearty welcome he and his wife gave me ! With 
what relish I partook of the food which was 
spread before me, and how glad I was to lie 
down and rest in the bed prepared for me, even 
though it was spread on the floor ! 

How marked the contrast between this spot 
and others like it in being favored by nature, and 



1 88 Blazing the Way. 

many other places in the same commonwealth! 
The State of Idaho, like other Northwestern 
States, has hundreds of thousands of acres of arid 
land where almost nothing grows except sage- 
brush and cactus. Strangers to these parts of 
our country, on passing through for the first 
time, often express their disappointment at the 
barrenness of the land. The soil is dry and dusty, 
with here and there patches of lava rock, which 
constitute the "scab land," with sagebrush cov- 
ering the entire surface from mountain to moun- 
tain. This land, which appears so valueless to 
the stranger, is nearly all susceptible of a high 
state of cultivation; for wherever water can be 
obtained for irrigation it proves to be wonder- 
fully fruitful, and becomes exceedingly valuable. 
But in the central part of the State there is a 
tract of worthless land known as the "lava-beds," 
about fifty by one hundred miles in extent. Even 
sagebrush refuses to grow on parts of this great 
desert tract. In places a species of cedar ekes 
out a precarious existence, and sends out its roots 
like great serpents over and among the rocks. 
Cottontails, owls, lizards, and rattlesnakes are 



Oasis and Desert. 189 

members of the animal kingdom which here pos- 
sess the land, and to these nearly all others have 
yielded their claims. As a matter of course this 
desert is not inhabited by man, though people live 
on all sides of it, and at times must needs cross it. 
On the western side of this barren region is a 
beautiful and extended valley, through which 
flows a stream a hundred or more miles in length, 
which rolls a large volume of water toward the 
desert as if resolved to render it fruitful and 
habitable, but it soon becomes lost after reach- 
ing the barren lands. Does it flow under ground 
for another hundred miles to burst out finally in 
the "Thousand Springs" on the north bank of 
the Snake River Canyon? Such is the theory of 
some, and not without probability of its being 
true. This stream is known as the Lost River. 
Indeed, there are two streams which meet the 
same fate near their confluence, and they are 
known as the Big and the Little Lost Rivers, and 
the country drained by them is "the Lost River 
Country." In crossing this desert it is necessary 
to take along water for the use of man and beast. 
If this is neglected, great suffering, or even death, 



190 Blazing the Way. 

may ensue. Freighters crossing this tract carry 
with them the water-barrel as regularly as they 
do their axle-grease, and in some instances the 
former is the more valuable. 

Prior to 1902 all freight and passengers for 
the Lost River Country had to cross this desert 
by team, and freighting was the occupation of 
hundreds of people. As nearly all these em- 
ployed teams of from four to twelve horses, a 
large number of these animals were annually 
worn out in this service. In addition to this, a 
regular stage-line, with the old fashioned rocka- 
way Concord coaches, carried the mail and pas- 
sengers from Blackfoot to Challis and return, 
making the distance of the round trip of three 
hundred miles in sixty hours. These stage- 
Coaches left the terminal points every day, drawn 
by four or six horses each, and passengers and 
mail were expected to make a continuous pas- 
sage without stopping to sleep. Fifty miles of 
this journey lay across the desert; but the route 
lay by the base of a large butte, which divided 
the distance where was a small spring and eating 
and feeding station. These stage rides were al- 



Oasis and Desert. I9I 

ways attended with hardship, but were not want- 
ing in interesting features. 

It was my fortune once to ride in front — or 
on the ''boot," as it was called — with a garrulous 
driver, who like most professional stage conduct- 
ors, was inclined to be boastful of his horseman- 
ship and general success as a Jehu. He proudly 
affirmed that he always had the best ''stock" on 
the line, because he always took the best care of 
it, and understood the nature and management of 
horses as most drivers did not. He asserted, 
without hesitation, that he never had any trouble 
with balky horses, and they never refused to go 
at his bidding, and never kicked. Other drivers 
were greatly troubled with this kind of animals, 
but he had the knack of getting along with them 
without delay or embarrassment. Indeed, judg- 
ing from the six which he was now driving, it 
looked as though he might be telling the truth; 
but I had heard so much of his talk that I was 
skeptical. At nine o'clock that night we changed 
horses, and four fine-looking animals took the 
place of the former six. Our fortunate and skill- 
ful driver, who knows so much more than others 



192 Blazing the Way. 

concerning horseflesh, gives the word to start 
as he deftly gathers the reins in his hands, and 
three of the four refuse to move out of their 
tracks. After some persuading and some words 
which are unfit to print, they all begin and exe- 
cute a very interesting dance with kicking ac- 
companiments, but with a stubborn refusal to 
travel. Forty minutes of valuable time is con- 
sumed in this entertainment before we are again 
on our way. I am again on the box with the 
driver of horses which never balk or kick, but he 
is not so communicative as he was a few hours 
before on the subject which is ever near the 
teamster's heart. 

In October, 1900, I was at the town of Hous- 
ton, on this line, on my way to Blackfoot, the 
railroad point at that time. The schedule time 
for the stage to pass through this place is four 
o'clock in the afternoon of each day, and the 
journey across the desert would be taken during 
the night. This trip was always dreaded, espe- 
:cially by ladies. At this time and place I met a 
lady, who, upon learning that I was soon to make 
the journey to the railroad, asked about my plans. 



Oasis and Desert. 193 

I told her that on the following Monday night I 
would board the stage at a point about thirty 
miles on the way at about ten o'clock. As she 
was desirous of having company for the long 
and tiresome night journey, she expressed a de- 
termination to go out on the same stage. Ac- 
cordingly, at the time which I had named, I 
hailed the stage in front of the schoolhouse 
where I had conducted service, and asked 
the driver if he could convey me to Black- 
foot. He answered in the affirmative, and 
told me to open the curtain or door to 
the coach and climb in. Another man was 
on the boot with the driver, who shouted 
to me to take the back seat. I was a trifle sur- 
prised at this, and for the instant wondered why 
the rear seat was not taken. It was so dark when 
I cast a glance into the depths of the coach that 
I could see nothing; but I supposed, of course, 
it was occupied. At a venture, not knowing who 
was inside, but supposing it was the lady from 
Houston, I said, ''Good evening," but received 
not a word in reply. However, as I climbed in I 
accidentally placed my hand on some obstacle 
13 



194 Blazing the Way. 

which I felt certain was a human knee, but a 
hasty **beg pardon" failed to elicit any response. 
I sat down in the rear seat which I had all to 
myself, and called to the driver to go ahead, but 
was in a state of uncertainty as to who was my 
companion, if I had one. Thinking I had per- 
formed my share of the salutation I decided to 
wait for future developments. It was so very 
dark I could see absolutely nothing, and the 
rumbling of the coach was such that I could not 
hear any other sound, yet I felt certain that some 
one was in the coach facing me, and I fell to won- 
dering if the woman who had begged for my 
protection on the trip was playing me a trick. 

For a few miles we went on in this condi- 
tion of uncertainty, with no sound within save 
that which came from without. Presently we 
stopped to change horses, and the outside pas- 
senger came to the side and lifted the canvas 
door and struck a match, saying as he did so, 
"Well, boys, how are you making it?" As the 
match lighted up the interior of the coach, I saw, 
instead of my anticipated lady traveling com- 
panion, two rough and swarthy Indians sitting 



Oasis and Desert. 195 

side by side with handcuffs on their wrists, and 
bound fast to each other. They were on their 
way to the penitentiary, and the man who was 
escorting them was the officer having them in 
charge. The woman from Houston had waited 
for better company, and my ride across the desert 
of Idaho was, as usual, without the refining in- 
fluences of the gentler sex. 

In the following July the trip was again made 
on the ingoing stage, and among the passengers 
was a gentleman and his wife from Michigan. 
This was their first visit to the West, and their 
first stage ride, and they said it was the first time 
they had ever encountered dust. No doubt it was 
the first time they had ever seen it in such blind- 
ing quantity as, at times, wholly to shut the lead- 
ers of the six horses from sight. If one has never 
seen such dust as this, he will not be able to ap- 
preciate the situation. Of course the lady's face, 
like the face of the others, became completely 
coated with dust, but not to sufficient depth en- 
tirely to conceal the look of utter disgust which 
it also wore. I shall not soon forget the with- 
ering look she gave me in reply to my audibly 



igS Blazing the Way. 

expressed opinion that her face needed soap and 
water more than any other face in the company. 
Like the rest of us she took her picture on the 
towel at the station where we stopped for dinner. 
Rocky Mountain dust and a Concord coach are 
wonderful levelers of society, and a few hours' 
experience with them will convert a fair coun- 
tenance into the appearance of a Mongolian, and 
will largely solve the color problem by making 
all alike. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

The Niagara of the West. 

If Shoshone Falls were as well known as is 
Niagara, we might, when referring to the latter, 
call it the Shoshone of the East. Probably ten 
thousand people have seen Niagara to every one 
person who has looked upon Shoshone, so inac- 
cessible is this marvel of the Snake; and yet 
there are not wanting persons who have become 
familiar with both, who are in honest doubt as 
to which is the greater natural wonder. It is 
very difficult to make a comparison between these 
two great falls, because they are so unlike, and 
yet in some respects they are quite similar. In 
each instance an entire river makes a superb leap, 
though, in the case of the Snake, the water seems 
to hesitate at first as it flounders among the rocks, 
now making a short dash, now turning aside; 
then another leap as if to test its strength, or as 
if in fear of the awful chasm ; and at last it seems 
to have yielded to the inevitable, and makes its 
197 



198 Blazing the Way. 

final and terrific plunge into the foaming and 
seething and darkened mass of water far below. 
The Niagara is bifurcated by a dividing island 
where the plunge begins, while the Western river 
makes its final leap, in times of high water, as 
one unbroken body, though at other times it is 
divided by a dozen projecting rocks, and the 
rapids, just above the last plunge, are broken by 
islands into numerous rugged and tumbling chan- 
nels. The entire fall of the Snake is two hun- 
dred and ten feet, and is thus forty feet greater 
than Niagara, but the fall of the latter is all per- 
pendicular, while this is true of only about three- 
fourths of Shoshone. The surroundings of these 
great natural wonders are very dissimilar. 
Niagara falls two hundred and twenty-five feet 
in its course of twenty-five miles, and the Snake 
drops five hundred feet in one-sixth of that dis- 
tance. Niagara is in a setting of beautiful green 
with a plethora of vegetation on all sides, while 
the Snake is in the midst of a desert region, 
where volcanic power has thrown up great 
masses of brown lava, which stand on every hand 
in the utmost confusion. The entire setting is 
dark, gloomy, awe-inspiring, awful. Man, as 



The Niagara of the West. 199 

yet, has scarcely disturbed the solitude of the 
place. The falls are more than twenty miles 
from the railroad and from the town which bears 
their name. Here, in loneliness which is almost 
overpowering in its impressiveness, the tortuous 
Snake, nine hundred feet wide, makes its terrific 
leap. 

Mr. John Burroughs has expressed himself in 
the following language: ''Shoshone Falls is 
probably second only to Niagara ; less in volume, 
but of greater height, and with a far more strik- 
ing and picturesque setting. Indeed, it is a sort 
of double Niagara, one of rocks and one of water, 
and the beholder hardly knows which is the more 
impressive. Niagara is the more imposing ; Sho- 
shone is the more ideal and poetic. It is a fall 
from an abyss into a deeper abyss." 

It is little wonder that a visitor has written 

as follows : 

*' The Mammoth Cave, Niagara Falls, 
And California's monster trees, 
Yosemite and Yellowstone, — 

Shoshone Falls must rank with these. 

Mighty rush of waters, 

Mighty massive walls, 
Thunder, mist and rainbow, — 

Great Shoshone Falls." 



SEP I 1905, 



